The Redemption Squad, Book I: MEGA MAN
by Snodin
Summary: Levels 3: "Crash Course." Raz the Psychonaut is having trouble adjusting to his new life in deep space. While trying to follow his new friends on their adventure, he accidentally falls into one of his own.
1. Game Changer, Part 1

**FROM: The Journal of Counselor Gordon Freeman- Entry #1**

"_Are we alone in the universe?"_

_That was the question that inspired me to be a scientist. I was always curious about the unknown depths of space, and wondered if there was more to it than just planets and stars. That's why I enrolled in MIT and eventually joined the research group known as Black Mesa. They too wanted to stretch the possibilities of transporting men through time and space, for the ultimate answer to the ultimate question: "Are we alone?"_

_Well, several years and one hellish interplanetary war later, it's safe to say that we have gotten our answer._

_We were all such naive fools, to think that we could understand and control technology far ahead of its time. But lack of understanding always was the first step toward war, isn't it? That, and a lust for control. Both sides of the battlefield sought control- there was us, the human race; and on the other side, The Combine. They are as alien and primitive in nature as classic horror stories would have you believe, except they were also able to harness their own unique technology. What began as an innocent glimpse into their world escalated into a frenzy of death and destruction. In the end, we humans lost the war._

_Yes, you heard me right. We've lost._

_I cannot tell you how long it has been since my last day on Earth. I can't count the days, weeks, years, or perhaps even decades. Time moves far too slow out here, in outer space. Indeed, that is where I and the few lucky survivors of The Combine are now- in space. Having lost all of our resources in the war, the remaining members of Black Mesa, myself included, had no choice but to join forces with our long-time rivals, Aperture Science. _

_Aperture had one last trick up its sleeve, as though they knew the tide would turn in The Combine's favor: they developed a ship that would send us survivors into the depths of space, hoping that we could find a new planet and start over, leaving The Combine and its filth far behind._

_Well, as I've said, much time has passed, and what started as a small space shuttle escalated into an entire space colony. With the combined efforts of alien races we've befriended over time, we have created Pandora- a free-roaming colony of countless homeless creatures, including us once proud humans. We were united by a common goal: to seek a new home and begin again._

_I'm writing all of this down, in the event that something were to happen to me and my closest allies, so that someone could understand where we came from. Knowing where our journey began and where it will take us is, I hope, the first step toward a peaceful future._

"_Are we alone?" No. Not even close._

_The real big question now is: How can we, who have doomed our own planet, ever hope to redeem ourselves?_

.

**THE REDEMPTION SQUAD**

**Snodin**

**.**

**Level 1: **

**GAME CHANGER**

.

**Mega City- The Outskirts**

**Sometime in the year 20XX…**

Doctor Albert Wily had better days.

This was the umpteenth time he had challenged his long-time foe, Mega Man, to a battle within his massive skull decorated castle. It was the dead of night, the stars were all out, but there was no tranquility within the castle walls.

With a well-aimed weapon launch, the small blue robot hero struck down Wily's latest death machine, sending it crashing onto the floor. Upon impact, the mad doctor with the wily grey hair and mustache came popping out of his glass orb and landed on his rear, smoke rising from his whiskers. But just when things couldn't look any worse for him, he realized that he had landed right in front of his sworn enemy, staring down the barrel of the robot's Mega Buster.

The robot, with the appearance of a twelve-year-old boy dressed in blue and cyan armor, stared back at the mad doctor with cold blue eyes. He was almost scowling, but hesitated to make any sudden moves, giving the old man a chance to do his routine begging of mercy.

"Please!" yipped the old man as he quickly hunched down on hands and knees in fear. As he pleaded, his thick German accent betrayed his otherwise clear English dialogue: "Aw please, have mercy Mega Man! I've learned my lesson, I'll never vage var on mankind again, I svear!"

The boy gave him a small smile. "Don't you ever get tired of saying that, doc?"

Wily sneered at him. "Meh. No, not really."

"Well then, you're going to jail."

"Don't _you_ ever get tired auf saying _zat_?"

The robot smiled wider, almost playfully. "Heh, nope. Not really."

As Mega Man was helping his enemy onto his feet to bind his hands with wire, another figure was inching his way into the battle room. He was crawling on his belly like a snake, scraping his partially missing torso across the floor as though he had lost all function of his legs.

This was a robot that Mega Man had taught a lesson to earlier that night, but instead of accepting defeat, the robot swore revenge- swift and painful revenge. Though the screeching of his belly was hard to muffle, his targets were preoccupied with their banter:

"Zat does it. Next time, I'll make twelve Robot Masters! Three ice makers, five fire bots! More spiky rooms!"

"Yep, you keep lining 'em doc and I'll keep knockin' 'em down."

"Keep mocking me, Mega Man! I'll be back vith a vengeance so foul, you will not"

_**Click**_, went the dark figure's arm blaster.

The small blue robot heard it and quickly darted his head around in curiosity. "…Huh. I thought I heard something."

"Tsk," scoffed the mystery killer. He had only one shot at this little blue pest, and he wasn't about to let his enemy catch him in the act. He froze in place and waited for The Blue Bomber to lose interest in the sound of his blaster. But just as the little robot resumed arresting Doctor Wily, a new development came about: Mega Man had walked right in front of Wily, putting both of them in the vengeful robot's firing range.

Suddenly, the dark robot's inner programming read the life forms of both Mega Man and Wily, Mega Man's form glowing green, Wily's red. An alarm went off in his head: _INAPPROPRIATE TARGET! INAPPOROPRIATE TARGET! INAPPOROPRIATE TARGET!_

"Gah," he winced; his master's presence was messing with his primary objective! He squinted his eyes as his body pained, yet his blaster remained locked onto Mega Man.

_INAPPROPRIATE TARGET! ABORT! INAPPROPRIATE TARGET! ABORT!_

"No… This is my one chance… I can't miss… Not now… Not… now…"

His prey was walking away with his master in tow; time was running out for the assassin. Then suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his right eye: a generator fused to the far right wall. That's when he realized that the fight was taken to the lowest of levels in the building. They were sitting right on top of the castle's electrical systems! At last, an appropriate target.

Mega Man heard another clicking noise, followed by the familiar sound of an engine revving. He blinked and darted his gaze again, more alert than before. With a gasp, he laid eyes on the robot in the shadows, aiming its blaster at the generator.

"…Is that…?" Before he could finish his question, the looming figure fired his charged shot.

The blue robot only had time to take a glance at the beam of light that went flying across the room, headed straight for the generator. Before he could let out a gasp, it was too late. The generator exploded, causing a chain reaction that would rock the castle off its hinges.

.

**BOO-OO-OO-OO-OO-OO-OOM!**

…

His eyes fluttered open, only to find he was lodged underneath a massive pile of rubble. It was moments like these that made him glad that he was a robot; otherwise he would have surely been dead. Still, his human data forced him to feel pain, especially in his stomach, as his midsection took the brunt of the blast.

Oh, that's right- there was a blast! He remembered now. With little strength that he had, he pushed away the boulders pinning him down with his borrowed robot master power. Piece by piece, he tossed the boulders like they were pebbles, until he was at last free.

Feeling the fatigue kick in once again, the little blue robot crawled on his knees before finding his feet. Gingerly he lifted himself up from the rubble; he was dirtied and his armor was cracked in some places, but he endured far worse in the past. But no sooner did he free himself, a strong sense of dread filled his core.

The castle was in ruins. Half of it in fact was leveled and broken to billions of pieces. Only the skull on the front of the fortress made it clear that this place belonged to Doctor Wily.

"Wily," he muttered in horror.

He was in the blast too, Rock remembered. And so was his faithful robotic dog, Rush. Surely they were buried deep within the clutter of rock and steel. He quickly darted around, pained but determined. "RUSH! …Rush, here boy! …Rush, where are you?"

A whimper was heard nearby.

Recognizing the sound, Rock struggled to run toward its source. Sure enough, his red steely companion was found in his own pile of rocks- at least, his front half was, the lower half was sticking out like a sore thumb from the rubble, diagonally in direction. The canine's tail and back legs were swaying wildly while his buried mouth kept on whimpering.

"Rush," he huffed. "Hang on, boy! I've got you." He shoveled the debris aside until the dog was able to squirm free of his bind. Like a true dog, he shook as much dust from his body as he could.

"Good boy, Rush," whispered the boy as he patted the would-be canine's head. "Now hurry, we've got to find Doctor Wily! See if you can trace his scent."

_Bark-bark!_

Rush dipped his face toward the earth and began to sniff around for traces of body heat. He trekked through the rubble while his partner paused every other second to observe the one half of the skull castle that was, miraculously, still standing. Then at last, the red dog stopped and pointed forward like a purebred hunting dog, toward the bottom slope of a hill of rubble.

Rock looked ahead, and stopped to make a small gasp as his crystal blue eyes widened. There, lying on his stomach in soft earth was his old nemesis, now unconscious and bloodied.

The boy feared the worst as he ran to old man's side. "Wily," he gasped as he gently turned the man over onto his back.

A small trickle of blood oozed from the left corner of mad scientist's mouth. He was dirtied and bruised; there was no telling just how much damage had been done, but at first glance his status certainly looked bleak.

"Doctor? …Doctor Wily, wake up. P-please, wake up!"

The boy shook the old man's arm as panic rushed through his battered circuits. There was no immediate response, which coaxed the boy to open the hatch on the dark blue casing of his left arm.

Inside was a small communicator; he patched into his home base and panted, "Dad! …Dad, can you hear me? …It's me, I'm at the castle- well, I'm outside the castle actually." Funny, he really would have still been in the castle had it not been leveled halfway. "But you've gotta send the medic team, quick! …No-no-no-no, I'm fine. It's Wily. He's hurt, really bad…"

As the panicked humanoid robot was talking into his arm, the mustached scientist's eyes began to force themselves open. His breath was wheezed, and his body could barely move at first. But he at least had the strength to move his neck, and when he lifted his head, he let out a weak gasp of horror.

Rock saw the look of sheer terror in the old man's eyes: someone was right behind him, staring straight at the doc like a hawk to an injured mouse. It could only be one figure to strike such fear in Wily, and as Rock turned around to face his adversary, his suspicions were confirmed: "Bass."

Not looking much better than the small blue robot, the towering black and purple-tinted one with golden arched hood flaps stood strongly on his legs despite the gaping hole in his center. Blue electric currents spewed from his wounds, and yet the looming beast remained cool and collected. His human-like teeth gnashed and his eyed narrowed darkly. He came to finish what he started.

With newfound strength, Mega Man jumped in front of his fallen foe, aiming his Mega Buster at the looming brute. "Stay back!" he yelled defiantly, despite still trembling from fatigue.

"Tch," smirked the dark colored brute. "Now ain't _this _a pretty picture?"

Ignoring his taunt, the boy spoke out angrily. "How could you, Bass? How could you do this to your own father?"

"My father…. My FATHER?" he roared. In his ire, his lower body shifted, causing him to steady himself before he could continue ranting. "Ha! Some 'father' _he _is. All my life I was loyal to him- I followed his orders, I saved him time and again, and how does he repay me? By building a new robot! A bigger, 'badder' version of me, right under my nose. How's that for gratitude, hm?"

"You're jealous of Zero, is that it?"

"That's part of it… I figured I can have one last go at you so I could prove that I'm the better robot once and for all. But of course, you had to ruin it. Just like you ruin everything…" He dared to take a step forward.

"I'm warning you, Bass!" shouted the boy with a shaky Mega Buster. "One more move, and I shoot!"

"He's your sworn enemy, and you have the gall to take his side? You'd risk your circuits for a maniac like Wily?"

"It doesn't matter. He's still human, and I've sworn to protect _all_ humans."

Rush snarled up at the purple brute as if to indicate that he agreed with his companion.

"You're breaking my heart, kid." Bass slowly took another step, forcing his adversary to make his move.

"Don't…!" The boy had no choice now; he had to follow through with his warning. _Click. …Click, click, click._ Oh dear, it seemed that in the aftermath of the blast, he had run out of energy to produce ammo for his hand/gun. Further evidence was shown in that the only light coming from the yellow bar of his Mega Buster was on the very last bar.

"Ha! HA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" burst the maniacal robot. His laugher went through both Mega Man and Wily, who was now trying to crawl away but lacked the strength to get far. "Aww," cooed the brute sarcastically. "What's the matter, Mega? Not enough juice to save your friend after all? Well, tough luck kid!"

Bass was just about to throw down his arm, when Rush leapt forward and seized the brute's arm before it could land a blow. With jaws of solid steel, the dog latched onto the killer robot like glue.

For a short time, the two robots were locked in combat, until a terrible tiger roar preceded a bigger, purple and gold robot beast that lunged itself at Rush. It threw the red dog to the ground and pinned him; the beast was twice Rush's size and wolf-like in its face. It let out another roar as it pinned down the dog with its giant front paws.

"Good boy, Treble!" cheered Bass. He then turned back to the small hero with a grisly grin. "Looks like it's just you and me, kid. And I know I got some juice left."

**-FOOM!-**

The green electro-plasmic blast threw Mega Man at least ten feet away, before he slammed into a wall of rock.

"Puh," spurted Bass. "So much for the World's Greatest Robot… Now then, where was I?" His eyes scanned the ground for his target, who was crawling away with shortness of breath and dragging his shattered left leg. It didn't take much effort for Bass to catch up to Wily, who began to beg pitifully for his life. "P-please, Bass! I… I vaus clearly a fool to have ignored you! I could build you better weapons… More firepower…"

"Pathetic, doc."

"You… You can't kill me, Bass! Robots cannot kill humans, it's not in zere programming!"

"Hm. You're right. I can't kill you… at least, not directly." He aimed his gun/arm at the ground beneath Wily; one blast from it, and the cave-in would do the rest.

"Please!" spouted Wily with hands clasped in prayer. "I beg you, I'll do any-sink! Any-sink!"

"I only want one thing from you, Wily." The brute's gun warmed up until a small green spark was visible in its barrel…

"NO!" screamed the flash of blue that collided with Bass's gun. On impact, Mega Man's body threw the gun off balance, causing the blast to shoot far out of range rather straight downward.

Despite clearly being out-muscled, the Blue Bomber clutched onto his enemy's gun like he was made of glue, disallowing the brute to move it anywhere near his primary target. The two robots were now at a stalemate, pushing and shoving each other like dueling stags. With each struggle, Mega Man's feet were carving tracks in the dirt, yet he remained determined with teeth clenching almost to the breaking point.

"I…. I won't…. let you….. k-kill him….!"

Those small yet heartfelt words reached the mad doctor's ears, and despite his cruel nature, his eyes softened- possibly for the first time ever.

"Then," grunted Bass as he shoved his gun into Mega Man's chest; "I'll take you with him!" The gun charged up again, this time at full capacity.

The Blue Bomber was surely doomed now. He closed his eyes tightly.

But then, a familiar whistle shot through the air:_-La-Do-Re… Do-Mi…-_

Treble still had Rush pinned, when a flash of bright red grazed his back. Alarmed, the beast let go of its prey and snarled in fury. Another flash of red followed, then another, in zig-zag formation. This left Treble stunned and frozen in place, or so it seemed. In actuality, the beast was being cut to ribbons at lightning-fast speed. He crumbled to the floor, piece by piece. Even Rush was awed by this surprise.

"Treble!" howled Bass in horror. Enraged, he pushed back Mega Man and started firing aimlessly in the air, hoping to catch the red and grey speedster. It was only when the big brute's blaster was in range of the little blue robot again that the figure made a complete stop, causing his large white shield to block the oncoming blast.

Recognizing the hero as a grey robot donning red armor and a long yellow scarf, Mega Man cheered, "Blues!"

Blues, or Proto Man as he preferred to me called, stood straight and tall before his younger counterpart. "Sorry I'm late little brother," he apologized with barely a hint of emotion in his voice.

"Not you too," growled Bass, whose body was now trembling. "Why must you always show up at the last possible minute?"

Blues braced his shield for another attack, making sure his little brother was behind him, while Bass used the last of his strength for one final assault. This time, he was going to level two foes…

_**FLASH!**_

Fearing the worst, Mega Man closed his eyes tightly. In doing so, he missed the small beam of light that fell down on Bass like a bolt of lightning, straight down the middle. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the big black and gold brute was frozen in time, his mouth gaped open and his eyes bulged in shock. A few seconds later, a crack opened from his top of his head to his pelvis- a perfect split.

The small blue robot watched in stunned silence as his enemy fell in opposite directions, one left and one right. As the halves fell away from each other, the culprit behind the lightning-fast slice was revealed right behind where Bass once stood: a robot with one knee on the ground and his head down. He was mostly red, even redder than Blues, lined in black and a form far more streamlined than the other robots present. In his left hand, a teal laser-sword, the object responsible for Bass' fall. Behind his head were two golden-yellow threads, almost like hairs. When he lifted his head, he stared back at Blues and Rock with soft teal eyes.

"Zero…" muttered Mega Man. He was in utter shock; never before did this "perfect" creation of Wily's even so much as lift a finger to help him, and now he had just saved the Blue Bomber's life. "…Why?"

The red and black robot spoke in a deep yet surprisingly gentle voice: "I had my reasons…"

That's when the little blue robot remembered, "Wily!" He turned and saw that Wily was now lying completely on his back, exhausted and helpless. The Blue Bomber rushed to his side, while Rush and Proto Man watched from a distance.

Ever so gently, Rock took Wily's left hand into his, and even re-digitalized his Mega Buster back to a human hand so that he could clasp onto Wily's broken hand all the more.

"Come on doc," whispered the boy. "You gotta hang in there. My dad's on his way- he'll take you back home and he'll fix you up, just like he fixes me."

The mad doctor's eyes fluttered weakly. "Ugh… M… Mega…?"

"Yes?"

Wily's voice was growing all the fainter as he struggled to breathe. "…Your… name… Vat… is your r-real name? …I re-m-membered it vunce, but…."

"Doc. Don't talk, just breathe. You hear me?"

"Tell me… uh… t-tell me your name… boy…"

Not sure of what else to do, the blue-armored boy replied softly, "Rock. My name is Rock."

The mad doctor's head turned ever so slightly to get a better look at the robot kneeling over him, though his vision was now blurred. "Ro-ck… Heh… Zat Thomas, vith his silly puns…." With his next breath, Wily started to cough; he shook as he did so.

"Please doc," frowned the boy, "save your strength. My dad won't be long, I promise."

Wily knew better than Mega Man; whatever he had to say to the Blue Bomber, now was the time. "…I… I vas such a pain, vasn't I? …Eh? …Hee-hee…. Heh… A real nuisance, yes?" He was practically smiling while he asked this.

The little blue robot cracked a small smile of hope. "…Yeah, but that's okay. You're only human, after all."

"Heh… heh… It vaus a fun game vee played… you and I… vaus it not?"

"...I guess so. But I always won."

"_Puh_… Zat you did…" Then came another cough, one that would shake his lungs to the core. Still, there was one more thing to say before he could rest: "…You… Alvays…. Vere ze better robot, Rock… All…vays…. ugh…."

"….Wily? ….Wily? …..Wily!"

He started shaking the doctor's body in hope of reviving him, but this time there would be no response. The mustached one's eyes were closed almost completely, save for a small hint of white as they rolled back. His bloodied mouth stayed slightly gaped as his final breath proved too much to bear. His head slumped to its left side, yet his signature mustache remained intact- the one piece of him that never faltered, not even now.

Rock's blue eyes dilated as his body began to tremble once again- this time not out of fatigue, but of sheer grief and despair. "…..wily….." He hung his head down in sorrow, while his helmet mysteriously vanished into thin air, releasing his feathered brunette hair under the moonlight.

It finally happened. After so many years of battling and upgrading, small victory after small victory, the Blue Bomber was rid of the mad Doctor Wily once and for all. …And it broke his heart.

For a brief moment, Mega Man felt nothing more than the wind in his hair. His body felt numb, almost lifeless, until a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. "Rock," stirred a soft elderly voice.

The boy looked upward and saw that the hand belonged to his creator Doctor Light, who arrived on a large motor vehicle along with Eddy, Auto, and even his sister Roll. All were carrying energy tanks and first aid kits, but were all too late.

To Rock, it wasn't certain just how long Doctor Light and company had been there; minutes, perhaps. So stuck in his state of grief was he, that times seemed to slow down to a crawl. But as the warmth of his father's hands reached his inner circuits, a new sense of strength overwhelmed him. Tears made of pure water filled his crystal blue eyes.

"Father," said the boy in little more than a faint whisper. While still very weak, the boy struggled to get back on his feet to meet his creator face to face. The tears were now flowing from his eyes in threads. With a tremble in his voice he lamented, "Father, I tried to save him. Really, I tried."

"Shh, shh." The good doctor planted his fingers on the boy's lips before both hands clasped the boy's cheeks, as though they needed the extra support. "I know, son. I know." Light opened his arms and embraced his war-weary son, who was all too eager to rest himself on the good doctor's chest. He began to stroke the robot boy's soft brown hair in comfort. "Aww, my dear boy…"

The boy sniffled and whimpered. "I didn't want it to end like this…"

"No one wanted it to end like this, son. ...But Albert, poor Albert, he was just beyond saving."

Nearby, Proto Man uttered, "He sealed his own fate," while gently stroking Rush's head while the dog looked on with a sorrowful frown.

Zero, who was now Wily's only living creation, walked to Proto Man's side to pay quiet respects to his creator, his… "…Father."

The grey robot barely heard this whisper coming from the taller, more formidable robot. But just when he thought he heard Zero's voice, the yellow-maned robot vanished without a trace.

Rock whimpered a bit more as his grief started to hurt more than the physical damage. He hugged his creator tightly, though not too tight. "…What do I do now, Father? …Wily is gone. Bass is gone… I have no one left to fight."

Doctor Light pulled Rock away from him just so he could look him in the eyes. "Fighting was never our intention, my dear boy. Your brother Blues is right, Albert brought this on himself. We will give him the proper burial; but for now… for now, the fight is over. It's all over… Let's go home and rest."

Rock rested his right cheek on his father's chest and breathed a heavy sigh. Being in that moment with his father, both of them holding and comforting each other, he should have felt at peace. But that one fearful question started to swirl around in his mind, chipping away at his already vulnerable core. It was a question that would terrify him more than any creation of Doctor Wily's:

_What do I do now? What does a fighting robot do, when he has no one left to fight…?_

…

A storm was blowing in that night. The stars were swallowed up by black clouds, turning the night ever darker and more foreboding than before. The group surrounding the lifeless body of Doctor Wily didn't immediately disperse, despite the howling winds and distant thunder. Proto Man and Auto were the ones who carried the body away, while the others shivered in the wind.

What none of them knew was that they were being watched; in the far distance, hovering in the cloudy sky and covered by darkness was a small circular machine with a neon orange iris. When lightning flashed, its body was briefly revealed to be ivory white.

It looked like a floating eyeball, but was in fact mechanical. It was a scout of some sort, and its one ominous eye was focused on Mega Man. It would linger there until its target finally left the scene. And then, just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished into thin air.

…

…

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months. Time slowed down for the little blue robot, who was now back in his original state as an assistant for his creator. No longer needing his blue armor, Rock was now sporting human clothes- tee shirts and shorts, like a real human boy would- only occasionally shifting his arm's form into that of a tool for his everyday chores.

These were meant to be happy days for Rock and his family, as they have finally achieved the peace they had spent years fighting for. Only now, it felt surreal; especially for Rock, who struggled to remember the last time he had mowed the front lawn, or cleaned the dishes, or even took out the trash. Life was perfect… too perfect.

.

Fall blew in with the wind. No one wanted to tell Rock that something special was being done in his and Doctor Light's honor, for (somewhat) putting an end to the terror of Doctor Wily. Of course, Doctor Light had to be told; otherwise he would have stayed home during the night in question.

But when that night came, he only told his children to dress up in their best for a night on the town. Rock put on a black suit and blue tie, while Roll put on her favorite blue and white-lined dress. Thomas himself put on a black suit and red tie, while Auto the family helper bot escorted them in their small car.

The location: a grand opera house in the center of Mega City, where officials all over the world as well as the press and some guest celebrities were waiting to greet their heroes. Imagine Rock and Roll's surprise when their car stopped in front of the theatre, camera lights flashing and people screaming for joy.

Inside the theatre, a massive banner draped across the top of the stage, with the words "THANK YOU, MEGA MAN" written in bold dark blue. On the stage itself was a podium at the center between two long tables, where Doctor Light, his family, and all of his Robot Masters were designated to sit while selected officials would take their turns to monologue about Rock's past adventures, almost like an episode of "This Is Your Life" for the Blue Bomber.

All the while, Rock was more than grateful, albeit a bit shy. He barely said a word, but the beaming smile on his face said it all.

"And now," said the city's mayor, "I would like to ask someone very special up to the podium, someone whom we all owe our lives to; the man who brought us our salvation: Doctor Thomas Light!"

With a booming applause- from the audience, as well as the robots onstage- Dr. Light humbly rose from his seat and took center stage. He gently tugged at the collar of his suit before clearing his voice. "…Thank you, all of you. I am both proud and immensely humble by this special occasion you've all worked so hard to make possible. As much as I would like to take all of the credit, I really shouldn't.

"You see, I may have created Mega Man, but I wouldn't have done so if Rock had not volunteered to fight in the first place. Becoming a warrior for peace was his decision, and his alone. I was, in fact, very reluctant to let him go out there head first into danger, but he had shown such incredible bravery and compassion for his fellow robots. It does my heart good to see that his sacrifices had not gone unnoticed. So, if it's alright by all of you, I would like to give all of the credit to where it's due: to my son and the true man of the hour, Rock."

The young boy sitting by the podium gasped and blinked in surprise, while his sisters and brothers applauded. Roll, sitting next to him, even gave him a sharp elbow to the side, encouraging him to stand up. As soon as he did, the room erupted in applause as humans and robots alike stood for ovation.

The blue-eyed, dark-haired boy was stunned; _Oh no,_ he thought! _I didn't even fix my hair_… Well, truth be told, his hair was "un-fixable," but still! He let out a big, loud gulp as he nervously walked to the podium.

He took one deep breath, and the room fell dead silent. Now the pressure was really on. "….uh….. I…." he stammered. Seeing that his creator wasn't far, he gained a bit more confidence. "S-sorry everyone, I didn't prepare a speech." At this, the audience chuckled softly, making him crack a smile. "But I do want to thank you all, for doing this for me… for all of us, really. Especially my dad- err, doctor… creator?"

"It's alright son," murmured Dr. Light gently.

Rock nodded. "Y-yes, I guess you can call him my dad. He made me who I am, and… I know I'm just a robot, but I know how big a deal it is to even be alive. I owe him everything."

"Aww," cooed some in the audience.

"Um," gulped the boy, "if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to say a few things about another man, whom I owe a lot to. …I'm talking about Doctor Wily."

Suddenly, a chill filled the room as everyone fell silent again, only this time it was an uncomfortable silence. Some murmured to themselves in dark, unfriendly tones, as though Rock had somehow pressed the "You've Gone Too Far" button.

But the boy stood his ground and bravely spoke up. "Now, I know what some of you might be thinking; you're thinking, 'Oh no, not that guy.' Yes, _that _guy. I mean, let's face it: yes, he was a crazy old man with delusions of grandeur, and yes he tried to take over the world more than once. He even had the nerve to turn some of my brothers and sisters against me over the years. Am I angry about that? Of course I am! …But I also forgive him.

"…I forgive him, because without his crazy schemes, I wouldn't be where I am today- I wouldn't be right here, accepting all this love and appreciation from all of you. I would never have known just how strong I would become, or what lengths I would go to achieve world peace… I wouldn't be who I am today without Doctor Wily.

"So hate him all you want, but I personally have to thank the guy, for giving me the chance to prove myself…. And, on that note, I would like to ask for a moment of silence in his honor."

Rock bowed his head in prayer, as did Doctor Light and the rest of his family.

While not everyone in the audience bowed their heads, they were at least courteous enough to stay quiet for a minute. That included the young man in the far back, wearing a dark trench coat, a yellow scarf tucked around his neck, and shades that concealed most of his face. He too bowed his head in respectful prayer.

Just as Rock was about to finish his prayer, a bright light came over him. This wasn't just one of those theatre spotlights, though; this was more like a glow straight from heaven. It gave everyone pause; some in the audience gasped in fear. Was this some kind of attack from a vengeful Wily bot, they wondered? Rock shielded his eyes, as the light was strongest on him. What he didn't realize, was that something was actually cutting through the fabric of space between the stage and the floor.

"What is that?" gasped Guts Man as he rose to his feet.

Squinting his eyes, Time Man took a deep look at the tear. "It looks like… some kind of rift in the time-space continuum."

"Translation?" requested his twin brother Oil Man.

Time Man frantically replied, "A portal! It looks like a portal!"

And indeed, that is exactly what it was. What started as a small tear became an oval-shaped white-hot hole in the air. The robots all gathered together with arms raised in combat, including Mega Man himself who digitally switched out his black suit and tie for his signature blue armor. He moved in front of his father in hopes of shielding him from whatever was about to emerge from the white hole.

The shoe of a tall human stepped forward from the vortex, followed by the rest of the woman dressed in a long white coat and black pants. Her coat had bright orange stripes along the shoulder pads, collar and zipper, with a strange symbol over her heart of what appeared to be an eye lens with the lines moving diagonally.

The woman himself was tall and thin, almond-skinned, with small dark eyes and raven hair that curled along her neckline. In the center of her bangs were thin grey lines, a sign of her age despite the lack of wrinkles in her face.

She took one look at Mega Man and gave him an unexpected smile. "Don't be alarmed," she said in a deep but gentle voice. "I come in peace."

"Who are you?" asked the cautious blue robot.

The lady in white replied courteously, "My name is Alyx Vance; I come from another dimension. My people and I have been monitoring your every move for some time now, Rock. …Or would you prefer to be called Mega Man?"

"…Me?" blinked the robot. "Y-you've been watching me?"

"Another dimension?" peeped a curious Doctor Light.

"I realize that my timing is a bit… off," said the stranger. "I apologize for that."

"What do you want?" asked the blue robot, still shielding his father.

Ms. Vance patiently replied, "I am part of a vast, inter-planetary and inter-dimensional program. We monitor as many worlds as we can gain access to, and do our part in keeping the peace within those worlds. We are called 'Project: Redemption,' and I've been sent to recruit you."

"…You, _huh_?..." Rock's eyes widened in both shock and awe.

"No way!" shouted Cut Man, who along with Bomb Man, Ice Man and Guts Man jumped in front of their brother in hopes of shielding him from the intruder. "You can't have Mega Man, he belongs with us!"

"Yeah," growled Guts Man. "Get your own robot servant!"

The strange woman couldn't help but smile; despite being out of her element and immensely outnumbered, she remained cool and collected. "I assure you," she said, "no harm will come to him. I'm only offering him this job as an opportunity to further challenge his abilities. What I mean is: I want to see if he's willing to expand his sense of justice and peace to other worlds- worlds that need more heroes like him. There aren't many out there as blessed as this one, you see."

Just then, the one other human on stage walked around his robots and faced Ms. Vance head on. "Excuse me Madam," said Doctor Light, "may I say something?"

"Yes, go right ahead."

"Miss… Vance, is it?"

"You can call me Alyx, if you like."

"Ms. Vance," said the uneasy scientist, "my name is Doctor Thomas Light. I created Mega Man, so I feel I should have a say in all of this."

"You can say whatever you wish, Doctor."

"Well, uh… I don't really know what your intentions are with Rock, but… well, he's like a son to me. And more importantly, his mindset is that of a young boy. He's only gotten his freedom from violence, and…"

The good doctor's words began to trail off, as his emotions began to get the better of him. His old heart started to pound heavier than he could bear; he started to take deep breaths.

"Dad…" muttered a concerned Mega Man.

Alyx gave the good doctor a nod. "I understand your concern, Doctor. I only wanted to ask your son if he's willing to join our group. There aren't many of us right now, but we intend to make the universe a better place for all creatures. That is our ultimate goal."

"And, for how long would he be away? That is,_ if_ he says yes."

"If all goes well, he can visit his home world as much as he wants. He will get special treatment, considering his age and all of the achievements he's already made. In fact, I would like to personally take him under my wing as his counselor."

Guts Man growled again, and cupped his fist with his other hand. "Don't listen to this crazy lady, Pops. She's up to somethin', I can feel it."

Alyx then looked down at the little blue robot in question, who was still looking warily up at her. "You don't have to give me an answer right this minute, Mega Man. I'll understand if you need time to think about my offer… But just consider what could be achieved if you _do _decide to join us; you will not only represent the best of this world, but you'll also bring peace and justice to all worlds of the known universe. That kind of greatness doesn't come along to just anyone, mind you. But I will only ask you this once; after that, it's entirely up to you."

Rock blinked a few times as he thought deeply about this so-called job offer. He glanced up at his father, then his worried siblings, then back to Alyx before softly asking, "Can… Can I think about this?"

"Of course," nodded the stranger. She then reached into her coat pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a calling card. She placed it in Mega Man's gloved hand. "If at any time you decide to join us, just press the button on this card. We'll contact you right away."

Rock's big crystal eyes gazed intently on the card with the eye lens logo on it. "I… I just need some time…. But thank you."

"The honor is all mine, Mega Man."

With that, Alyx gave the little robot a salute before stepping back into the white portal, closing it behind her. What was a hole in space was repaired in a flash, and it was as though the hole never existed at all.

The audience was stilled and silent, as were the robots and human on stage. Mega Man was still staring at the small card, pondering… wondering… Was this destiny, perhaps? What exactly did Ms. Vance mean by "Project: Redemption?" Could this be what he needed, now that Wily was gone? So many questions, not enough answers.

The black, stylized iris in the card's logo stared back at him, as if it were sentient, waiting for his response…

..

..

**SAVING GAME**

**.**

**CONTINUED NEXT LEVEL**


	2. Game Changer, Part 2

**THE REDEMPTION SQUAD**

**Snodin**

**.**

**Level 1.5: **

**GAME CHANGER (Part 2)**

**.**

**.**

**ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS LATER**

The setting: a distant planet in a far off solar system. It was habitable, and yet very alien; the evening sky was orange with a tint of purple on the horizon. There was oxygen here, sentient life, even plants and drinking water; yet the inhabitants came in all shapes and sizes. They had humanoid faces and bodies, and all seemed to speak the same universal language. But their skin colors varied between tans, blues, yellows and greens. Their body structures were much more geometric than say, the people of Earth; some had more squared faces, others were circular with hardly any sharp edges. And most of them were peaceful.

But for those who were not so friendly, an inescapable prison was waiting. They called it Casa Triste, the Dire House. In the middle of a barren desert, surrounded by a lush green oasis, the forbidding prison fortress stood. The ten-story high and heavily barbed front gates were locked, and from every spire was an armed guard mounted on a rotating laser cannon as big as a tank- perhaps it was a bit much, but one could never be too careful here. This was no ordinary prison; it housed some of the most powerful and dangerous minds in the galaxy.

It was nightfall; one large blue moon crept over the starry sky while a small yellow one followed from a distance. This was the hour in which three cloaked misfits dared to do the impossible: break in, and escape, Casa Triste.

.

While the night watch was making its rounds, one thin and brilliantly timed beam of blue light flashed, cutting through the atmosphere. From the flash came three figures, two tall and one very short, each dressed in long, hooded black robes.

They landed just behind the main gate, and now had to use the cover of darkness to their advantage. Swiftly they moved like shadows past apish armed guards; only once did they make a noise, the littlest of the three making a _"woop"_ sound as he jumped into a ball to evade one guard's suspicion. The guard would shrug it off, thinking it was just the wind blowing.

They hugged a wall of the building where they found a window; unfortunately it was just beyond their reach at nearly thirteen feet. But the tallest of the bunch had a secret weapon: his own body. He grabbed his neck and pulled out his wormy form, then whipped it at the window's bars as though it were a grappling hook.

The smallest of the trio climbed up the "rope," and with god-like strength he pulled the window's bars from their hinges with little to no effort.

Once he went through, the tallest one pulled himself through the opening, leaving behind his snake-like body for the middle-sized intruder to climb upward. The tall one's headless body pulled her in. All of this was done within mere seconds without one armed guard seeing them; it was as if they had planned it for some time.

.

The interior of the facility was your typical prison setting; barred doorways, guards in every hall, pitfall traps full of spiky floors in case any inmates escaped… okay, so it wasn't your typical prison setting. Then again, the inmates weren't your typical criminals; some of them were supernatural with telekinetic abilities. Extra precautions were a must, so adding to the pitfalls and sliding trap doors were halls of red lasers, staircases that went in circles, and even chained monsters ready to tackle and devour anyone that dared crossed their paths.

Fortunately for the intruders on this night, they had a map of the building in their main computer, which their Commander was using to guide the team around the traps.

Halfway through the first hall, the trio of robed intruders ducked down and slinked across the halls until they found a safe little corner to relax in.

The middle-sized one pulled back her black hood, revealing a youthful Asian woman with bright green eyes and matching lipstick. Across her forehead, a bright green bandana, and her hair was cut so short that one could confuse her for a boy. But she was clearly human in an alien world; her soft pale skin made her stick out like a sore thumb, nevermind her green lips. She raised her wristband to her face and spoke into it. "Commander? Do you read me?" she whispered. "We're in."

.

Hiding inside a white-bird-shaped vessel hovering just above the stratosphere, surrounded by computer monitors and keyboards that were "borrowed" from various sources, a small male voice spoke back to her: "I read you loud and clear, Jade. I take it everybody made it there okay?"

.

"Well," sighed the woman from her corner in the building, "Jim looks a bit sickly. But then again, he _is_ a worm."

She motioned over to the tallest party member, who unveiled his own face from his black cloak. Indeed, he was a worm- a large, anthromorphic earthworm with a wiry mouth and one eye bigger than the other. What made his body seem humanlike was the fact that he was mentally piloting a robotic suit far more fit for a bodybuilder than an invertebrate.

"Hey," Jim snapped at her while keeping his voice low. "Why are you always poking fun at me? Do I ever make fun of you for being human?"

"Because you're too easy," smirked the green-eyed lady.

"_Guys,"_ replied the boyish voice from the girl's communicator wristband, _"focus! Is Mighty there?"_

The smallest party member, a three-foot tall big-eyed and red-shelled armadillo, un-hooded himself. "I'm here, Commander."

"_Good,"_ said the mysterious Commander's voice. _"I'm hacking into the prison's security system as we speak. It may take a while; in the meantime, start looking for the target. He should be on the top floor in Sector G."_

"Which sector are we at?" wondered Earthworm Jim.

Jade glanced left and right at the walls until a letter stood out. "We're on C. First floor."

"Great," moaned Mighty Armadillo grimly. "How long before someone notices we're here?"

"Relax Mighty," whispered the human girl. Taking charge, she pointed down the leftward hallway. "Jim, you take out the guards down there, I'll take the right ones. Mighty, you're small enough to move through the vents. Use them to find the target and take out whoever's guarding him. We'll meet you there."

"You sure this is safe?" asked the armadillo worriedly. "We work better when we're all together."

"And," she informed him, "we'll cover more ground and silence more guards when we're apart."

"Ah, good point."

"I'm with you guys, let's do this." Jim pulled out a small white gun with blue lining.

Jade was quick to palm his gun. "No, Jim. No guns; just use stealth and subdue them."

"But guns are my specialty," he argued. "I'm not used to all this stealthy stuff. How'm I supposed to knock them out exactly?"

"You can just walk up to them; your smell alone is noxious."

"Stop with the insults."

"Stop eating dirt."

"_Guys?"_

"Sorry, Commander. We're on the move." Jade turned off her communicator and extended her right hand to signal the team. They went their separate ways as planned.

.

Jade was an expert in stealth; she hugged the wall as she slinked across the hall while hardly making a sound. With cat-like agility, she leaped over the head of a guard while his back was turned. As he whipped himself around, she had already moved on like a ghost. She would do this again a few more times before running into a guard that was facing her way. Quickly her boot met his face and knocked him out cold.

As she advanced through the hall and toward a staircase leading to the second floor, she picked up the pace. More guards were filling the halls and it was becoming more and more difficult for her to hide in the shadows. So she went into combat mode, using her hands and feet as her weapons as she flung herself at her enemies with mixed martial arts.

At one point, she even jumped onto a guard's shoulders, while two more were charging her. This caused them to hesitate before shooting at her, giving her time to make another jump with her legs kicking out. Each boot slammed into a guard's face, and just as they hit the floor, she turned to face the one she boosted herself on, grabbed his blaster, and punched his lights pout with its handle. It was becoming clear now that she was moving much too fast for your average human.

.

Jim wasn't kidding when he said that stealth wasn't his style. He was literally tip-toeing around the hall like an overly muscular ballerina. He only stopped at a corner where a military dressed guard was standing like a statue.

Unsure of what to do without a weapon, the worm slid behind the guard, hoping his presence would go un-noticed. This seemed to work, as the guard remained still. With newfound confidence, Jim slinked with the agility of a cat to the next guard and hid behind that one as well. But when he tried the same trick on a third guard, he failed to notice that this one was much shorter than his battle suit, and the top of his head stuck out like a sore thumb.

With Jim's head top looking like a quaff, the small guard's new 'do caught the attention of an armed guard walking by. "Fix your hair," he told the small guard.

Curiously, the small guard brushed back his head with his glove, only then realizing that he had a helmet on so there was no way that his hair could be sticking out. He turned around and was met with a peach-colored creature with bulging eyeballs.

"AAAAHHHH!"

"AAAAHHHH!"

_POW!_ The guard tried to turn and flee, running face first into a stone wall. The impact gave him such a concussion that he fell to the floor instantly.

Jim blinked twice in stunned silence. Was he really _that_ ugly? …Oh well, one less grunt to worry about.

.

Just as he was told to, Mighty the Armadillo used the ventilation system within the prison walls to snake his way upward to the third floor, and didn't stop until he had reached Sector G. He found the one vent box connected to the room of his target and waited until he was sure that the coast was clear. He then pushed the vent wide open as though it had no hinges.

He dropped down to the floor, as his doorway was near the ceiling. Landing gracefully on his feet, he looked around and saw that the room was empty, except for the one giant orb full of light green liquid. As the red-shelled armadillo approached the orb, he realized that this was the holding cell of his target.

Floating in a state of suspended animation, one not certain if he were sleeping or dead, was a very small child with tan skin, whose figure seemed to be made out of smooth squares, from his head to his torso to his limbs. The only things on his body that wasn't so cubed were his small perfectly circular eyes, closed tightly. Most of his clothing was dark and leathery, from the pilot helmet to the jacket to his pants and gloves. Underneath the jacket, however, was a soft green one-piece suit complete with a turtleneck. On his head, a set of purplish hair bangs were protruding from his helmet, and layered just over the helmet were a pair of red visor goggles.

Mighty was awed by the sight of this prisoner. "Jade, come in. Do you read me?" he whispered into the communicator on his blue wristwatch.

"_I'm here Mighty, I'm just below your floor."_

"I think I found the kid… He's so small, smaller than me even."

"_He's tougher than he looks- at least that's what I've heard. Stay there, I'm coming right up."_

And she wasn't kidding; right after she said this, the floor erupted with a small blast of green energy. It came from a small prison guard gun, which Jade had just stolen and used to break through the ceiling/floor. She climbed up from the crater to meet with Mighty.

"What're you doing?" gasped the fearful armadillo. "I thought this was a covert mission."

"It was," replied the young woman. "Plans change." Without giving her friend a chance to retort, Jade approached the glass orb that encased the small child. With her new weapon, she fired at the glass and broke it, sending the green ooze pouring out onto the floor.

Exiting the orb with the coma-inducing liquid caked all over him was the boy, landing softly on his back. Almost instantly, his eyes fluttered open as though all it took was a breath of fresh air to wake him from his deep sleep. He coughed and shuddered before sitting up and rubbing his head in a daze.

Jade stood over him with a warm smile. "Razputin Aquato?" she asked.

The tan-skinned boy rubbed his eyes as he looked up at her in awe. "Y-yes?" his voice peeped weakly.

Her jade-green lips curled into a sly smile. "Congratulations, you've just been granted an early parole."

Hearing the thunderous sound of oncoming footsteps, Mighty gasped, "Jade? We've got company!"

"Already on it," she replied confidently. She then picked up the boy and carried him over her left shoulder. "Get the door, would you Mighty?"

Not one to argue, the armadillo ran to the bolted tight door and clawed into its hinges, ripping it from the wall in one piece. Seeing that the guards were just on the other side, he flung the door at them, knocking them back and giving the team a space to run.

As they fled down the hallway, Jade could see that they were about to run straight into a set of bar doors. "Commander?" she called her wristwatch. "How's that hacking system coming along?"

"_Got it,"_ replied her commander's voice, as the bar doors almost magically flew open, allowing the intruders to continue their escape.

.

Meanwhile, in the spaceship hiding in plain sight well in the stratosphere, the team's Commander was still uploading some kind of virus into the prison's security system. The process was slow, despite him having the absolute best technology in the universe at his disposal.

But while his focus was on the upload screen, a booming alert noise shattered his concentration. Lights began to flash red all around him, as all his computer monitors switched to one image: a sonar screen picking up red dots approaching the image of Casa Triste.

Knowing what this image meant, his crystal blue eyes lit up in horror. "No… Not here… Not now!"

Frantically, he pressed a button on his wristwatch. "Jade! Jade, come in! Do you read me?"

"_Loud and clear, Commander. Something wrong?"_

"It's The Erasers! Somehow they knew we were going to be here. They're swarming all over the perimeter of the building! Get out of there!"

"_Copy that!"_

.

"Let's double-time it, team!" shouted Jade as she picked up the pace.

With her inhuman agility, Jade took a flying leap from the top of a staircase, drop-kicking into the first of four guards that were heading up the stairs and caused them to fall like dominoes.

Mighty, meanwhile, showed his own set of acrobats by using the staircase's rail as a grind rail, sliding downwards with Raz in tow.

.

Still trying not to reply on his firepower, Jim tried to pry a locked door open from its hatch by blunting it with the gun's handle. "WHY. WON'T. THIS. DARN. THING. OP-EN?" he screamed to the beat of his hapless blows.

Passing him by was Jade and company. "Jim?" she called out while running in the other direction.

"Oh!" he blinked, realizing that he was about to go the wrong way anyway. He then sealed his gun back in its holster, then glared back at the sealed door with contempt. "We'll meet again." Then he took off after his team.

.

The team made their way to the stairs leading to the ground floor, when suddenly they came to a new kind of road block: a trio of tall figures, each completely covered in red cloaks and hoods. From inside their hoods, their faces remained shadowed; only bright blue lights for eyes shown through.

Raz gulped, "I don't remember these guards before."

Jade replied darkly, "They're not guards. They're called The Erasers. They mean to delete us."

"…Delete?" blinked the small boy.

The red cloaked ones pulled laser guns from their concealed arms and opened fire, causing the team to retreat into the opposite direction.

"_J-de, I'm l-sing your -gnal- D- y- -ead me?"_

"Commander?" she replied. The rest of his message was blurred. "…Crap, they must be jamming our signal."

"Now?" begged Jim as he caught up with Jade in haste. "Can I use my gun now?"

"Yes! Yes! You may fire at will!"

"Finally," smiled the wild-eyed worm. He turned backward in his suit and pulled out his own laser gun. "Eat DIRT!" he cheered as he countered the Erasers' firepower with his own.

It wasn't long before the team ran into more Erasers, each looking like an exact clone of the next and brandishing laser rifles. With nothing more than Jim's gun to back them up, the team was running out of room for escape.

But then, coming toward a dead-end, Jade looked upward and said, "Jim! Hit the ceiling!" Obeying his orders, Jim blasted a rather large hole in the ceiling, allowing Jade to grab Mighty (who was holding Raz) and fling them upward. Jim then gave her a quick boost before launching himself into the third floor.

.

With the Erasers now one floor away, the team paused to catch their breath.

"Is this…. How it is… with you guys?" panted Raz as he clutched onto his right arm.

"Only on our worst days," replied a winded Jade before she noticed his pained stance. "…You're hurt."

"It's just a scratch," said the boy; as the woman touched his arm, he winced. "D-don't touch it."

"It's okay," she assured him gently. "I'm a healer."

As he watched in awe, the woman laid out her right hand to his wound. A warm blue-green light began to glow from her palm as she softly chanted something in another tongue. In seconds, the wound sealed up and was replaced with a new layer of flesh. "There," she said. "Feel better?"

"Yeah… That was amazing," he said gratefully. "How did you…?"

"No time to explain, we've gotta move."

No sooner than she said this, more Erasers mysteriously faded into the scene. The team barreled through them before they could raise their guns, and the chase resumed.

As Jade and company dashed down the halls, armed guards tried to block their path. Unfortunately for them, they were also in the path of the red robed Erasers, who weren't above firing their guns at them. So powerful were their shots that the blue lasers seemed to go right through their thick armor. And instead of falling to their deaths, the armed guards disappeared into thin air.

While the team was once again running out of room to run, one laser blast went through her walkie-talkie strapped on her belt.

The last message from her mysterious Commander was, _"J-come i- -de…" _Static took over the intercom after that.

.

"Jade? …Jim! Anyone? Come in…!"

No response, except for loud static. The youthful looking Commander gritted his teeth in worry. This was the last thing he and his team needed: their worst enemies bearing down on them in an already dangerous mission. He could no longer hide in the shadows, or the ship for that matter.

"No you don't. You're not taking my crew," he said darkly to the bleeping red dots on his computer screen. "Time to suit up!"

With that, he pulled at his suit tie to loosen it, so that he could gain access to the buttons hidden underneath the flesh of his collarbone. The four-button sequence activated a beam of blue light from the main core hidden deep within his chest. The transformation had begun.

It wasn't just any old kind of transformation, however; no physical change to his body, but just his attire. As a warm blue aura surrounded him, a pattern of glowing blue digits beamed through him, starting from his feet and rising to his neck. As the digits ran their course, his blue suit was replaced by solid cyan armor that looked skin tight, while his waist, lower arm and leg appendages were covered in a darker blue.

Digitizing over top of the dark blue spots were thicker layers of armor, especially on his legs and wrists. They were much bulkier; it looked like they could house twice the amount of muscle. His gloves and boots were also bulky; the boots in particular had an added feature of red circles on their soles, as if hiding a secret power source.

When the digital aura reached his head, his hair began to whip around in the wind before being completely covered in dark blue. This was his helmet, a perfectly round dome with cyan blocks lining the top of his brow to the back. Sticking out like headphones were circular ear coverings with red interiors. Oddly enough, this helmet didn't cover his face; one would think that after giving himself extra padding on his extremities that his face would be the next most important thing to protect. But then, he really didn't need that much armory… He was a robot, after all.

When the sequence was complete, the Blue Bomber activated another digitization sequence- this one on his left arm, changing it from a glove to his most prized weapon: the Mega Buster.

The Commander looked at the map onscreen and decided on a landing spot before teleporting himself out of hiding.

.

His timing couldn't be better, really; somewhere in the center of the third floor of the dungeon-like citadel, Jade and her team found themselves surrounded by red cloaks armed with long silver laser guns. While Jim and Jade were ready for battle, Mighty shielded Raz with his armored body. Though really, they knew there was no chance against these enemies; one good shot from their guns, and their lives were erased from existence.

One of the red cloaked figures spoke in a deep robotic voice: "You are in violation of the laws of physics; none of you belong in this dimension. Prepare for deletion."

"Uh," gulped Raz as he ducked for cover. "Did you guys come up with a backup plan for this?"

"Honestly?" replied Mighty with a frown. "I thought this place was way off their grid."

"Relax, you guys," said a steady Jade. "Backup should be here any minute now."

"It's already here," came a young boy's voice from behind a wall of Erasers.

The red figures turned to face this new presence: a small blue robot clothed from head to toe in thick blue armor. "You are in violation of the first law of physics," repeated the robotic voice. "You must be deleted."

"I don't want to fight you," said the small robot as he raised his hands in surrender while at the same time his eyes narrowed coldly. "But if you don't let me and my friends go, you'll leave me no choice." Despite the youthful innocence in his voice, it was clear that this was a warning.

"We are here to preserve the sanctity of this dimension," said the monotonous Eraser. "Your presence here is unacceptable." With that, it raised its gun at the blue robot.

"…I guess that's a no then? …Fine. Have it your way." Then, in a flash, he teleported out of sight, using the same digitizing element he used on himself to get inside the building.

He reappeared right behind the lead Eraser, landing a swift kick in its back with his steel blue foot. He then disappeared and reappeared again and again, each time catching his enemies off guard and welcoming them with blows to the head or back with his heavily covered limbs. Shots were fired, but each missed as the Blue Bomber teleported himself out of the line of fire. Some shots even hit fellow Erasers, causing their own deletion in the process.

Raz was beside himself with shock. "Who's this guy?" he muttered.

Jade glanced at him with a smile. "He's our boss."

With the last Eraser knocked to the ground, Mega Man landed beside his friends and pointed the way out. "This way, follow me!" he commanded, and off they fled.

.

Having downloaded data of the fortress' interiors into his mainframe, Mega Man led the group in a mad dash down the hallways that didn't lead into dead-ends. But now that he was no longer in control of the security system, it was only a matter of time before doors would slam shut before he and his team would have a chance to run through them. It was time to bring out the big guns.

"Deploy: Metal Blades!" shouted the robot to his arm. On activation, his armor's color scheme switched from blues to moss greens. Then suddenly, the pellets spouting from his arm cannon were replaced by large saw blades, which only managed to sink themselves halfway into the steely walls. It wasn't enough.

"Deploy: Hard Knuckle!" His armor once again shifted colors, this time to an even deeper shade of blue on his extra casings while his skin armor turned white. His arm cannon shifted into a fist nearly three times its normal size, which he launched like a missile at the sealed door that was up until now merely dented by his saw blades.

**POW!** With one mighty blow, the Hard Knuckle missile did its job and crumbled the door to pieces. He and his team continued their escape without hesitation.

.

As they approached a staircase, they could see a rush of red cloaks scaling up the stairs. Mega Man skid to a halt and threw back his arms to stop his team in mid-run, then quickly decided to turn a sharp left as the Erasers came closer.

This new path led the escapees to a solid brick wall, one that Mega Man had anticipated and was ready with his next trip up his sleeve. He once again shielded the team with his body and said, "Stay back!"

"They're right behind us!" panicked Raz.

"I know; this won't take long. Deploy: Crash Bomb!" The robot's armor turned white and salmon, and his arm cannon unleashed a small pinkish orb with grappling claws from its barrel, launching it into the wall. It clung there harmlessly, it seemed.

"…That's it?" blinked Raz. "Is that all it does?"

Mega Man smirked. "Wait for it…"

The pink orb on the device began to blink rapidly, until…** BOOM!**

Raz and the others shielded their eyes, and when they opened them up they saw a gaping hole in the wall big enough for a car to drive through. They could also see the night sky on the other side.

"Go," commanded Mega Man to the others. "I'll cover you."

Not in the mood to argue with their Commander, the team- now led by Jade- made a great leap of faith through the wall that would send them falling freely to the ground… or so they thought.

Actually, their Commander had already set up a Plan B of escape: his faithful dog Rush, in jet mode, was waiting outside just for the right moment to sweep in and catch Jade and Jim before they hit the ground hard.

As for Mighty, who was still holding Raz, he was caught by Mega Man's other faithful servant: a robotic bluebird by the name of Beat. Together, Rush and Beat took off in shots of red and blue with their cargo in tow toward a beam of soft pink light, which would teleport the escapees back onto their white swan-shaped spaceship high in the sky.

.

Still standing by the escape hole, Mega Man boldly stared down the red-cloaked Erasers that were now blocking his only other path of escape. His X-Ray vision confirmed him that they were ninety-nine percent robotic, and only one-percent organic. More machine than men, he would have no qualms in obliterating them right then and there.

Yet for his own personal reasons, he hesitated. While they muttered words like, "You will be terminated, your sins will be cleansed," he just stared blankly at them, neither angry nor afraid. Perhaps he was more on the… sympathetic spectrum of his limited mindset.

…Still, he knew he could not allow them to use such devastating weapons.

"The convicted is allowed to speak his final words," said the front-most Eraser as all eraser guns pointed to the little robot.

"I have three."

His color palette faded from blues to a pale yellow and soft grey, his Elec Man mode. "Deploy: Thunder Beam."

**FLASH!**

..

..

Poor Raz; his head was swimming when he reached the interior of the spaceship. He had no idea where he was or how he got there; all he knew was that he was dizzy and surrounded by strangers- two of which were animals. They, while as surprised to have escaped with their lives as he was, were more adamant in cheering and congratulating each other for a job well done.

Rush the robo-dog gave Raz a lick on his face, causing him to jump out of his stupor. "Ack!" he yelped.

"Relax," smiled Jade. "Rush is a good boy, aren't you Rush? Yes you are!" As she scratched his steely red ear, the dog simulated a scratch with his hind leg, indicating that he was feeling ticklish.

While all of this was sinking through to Raz, he noticed another soft blue light, this one coming from the armored robot boy, who had digitized himself into the ship by using his own personal means of teleportation.

Before the young boy's eyes, the robot's armor digitized and vanished, revealing a blue suit, white blouse, black necktie and black dress shoes in its place. Where the robot's helmet once was, was now soft brown windswept hair. He looked human now, almost childlike, with big blue doll-like eyes. "Well done team," he congratulated.

Jim, Jade and Mighty all saluted him, with Jade adding, "You too, Commander Rock."

"Thanks for that last-minute save, sir," sighed a relieved Mighty. "Though you did cut it a little close."

"You know me, Mighty; I always like to keep things interesting. Now… about you," said the robot to Raz. The smaller boy gulped, yet the blue suited team leader smiled warmly.

"My name is Commander Rock- or Mega Man, whichever you prefer. My team and I are known as The Redemption Squad; we're both interplanetary and inter-dimensional heroes for hire. We all come from our own unique worlds, joined by a common cause to promote peace and justice throughout the known universe. Or, in some cases, the multiverse."

Spellbound, Raz dropped his jaw. "…You guys… came all the way from different worlds and dimensions… just to save _me_?"

The Commander explained, "We know you were wrongfully accused of violating people's minds, though we haven't yet caught the real culprit. We figured that since we're not under normal jurisdiction, we should bail you out of jail and grant you your own chance at redemption. Think of this as a clean slate; no one knows or cares about your past, and you get to set your own future. And while you do that, we'll keep tracking down the criminal that framed you and bring him to justice."

The square-headed boy, deeply touched, grasped his chest. "I'm… I don't know what to say… I mean, I don't even know you people. But you went out of your way for…"

"Commander?" peeped Jade at the helm. "We're about to open the warp portal."

Rock nodded to Raz, "We'll have time to talk; right now, we better strap in our seats. These warp portals can get pretty bumpy."

Still reeling with awe and wonder, Raz was escorted by Jade to the nearest seat, where he strapped himself in as though he were going on a roller coaster ride. And in a way, he was.

"Set the coordinates for the space colony, just outside the docks," said the team's leader.

"Yes Commander," complied Jade as she pressed a series of buttons on a keyboard hanging above her steering wheel.

..

Outside the spaceship, as it was zooming farther and farther away from the mysterious planet, two red beams shot from its wingtips. As the beams collided with each other, they swelled and formed a circular red void. The ship flew straight into it, and it closed up as it swallowed the space swan whole.

…

…

When the space shuttle peeled through the vortex and came out its other end, it was welcomed by another vast group of distant stars. To newcomer Raz, the ship may have just jumped a few miles ahead, when in fact it jumped light years and then some. The only object that was close enough to be in full view appeared to be a small moon, made of a metallic exterior that shimmered in the light of a far off sun.

But this was no moon, this was a massive spherical satellite made completely from the scraps of various space shuttles, obelisks, and fortresses all piled together to form a complex of hospices and institutions. In fact, the small ship carrying Raz and company was viewing this complex from one of its sides; the colony had two half-circles sticking out from opposite ends while a third, smaller sphere was attached to its center, like the core of a planet that was cracked clean in half. Yet it was all metallic, and dull to look at except for some pale pink lights emulating from the core's "veins."

Gazing up at the space colony were Commander Rock and his co-pilot Jade in the front, Raz sitting just behind them, and Jim and Mighty just a few seats back.

Raz stared awestruck at the would-be moon as the ship turned to view the moon's inner circle, which was barely visible thanks to the half-circles slowly circulating around it in planetary orbit.

"Uh boss?" frowned a concerned Earthworm Jim. "I thought the idea was to go inside the colony?"

"We'll get there Jim, don't worry," assured Commander Rock. He then glanced over to Raz who sat right behind him and smiled, "I just wanted you to see Pandora from the outside first. Beautiful, isn't it?"

Raz paused, still fixated on the wonder of the false moon. But then he hit Rock with a question: "You named it Pandora? Like, as in the box that had all that evil stuff in it?"

Rock giggled softly. "It's actually a reference to the box _after_ it was opened; see, according to the myth, one last thing remains in the box: hope."

"Ooh, I get it now," nodded Raz.

"Just one more jump, and we'll be inside," explained the Commander as he once again pulled back on the red lever by his left.

The ship bolted forward, toward the space colony's core. Closer inspection revealed bright, blinking lights coming from the outer spheres, like windows reflecting bedroom lights at night. The outer spheres were each connected to the core by a long, thick bridge of sorts; a transportation tunnel, perhaps. And near the very center of the core itself, where a large pink glowing window indicated an entrance, one could just barely make out the remains of a long-forgotten space ship entitled, "BOREALIS II."

And indeed, the large pink-hued window was actually the entrance to a docking hangar for space ships like the one piloted by Commander Rock and his crew. As they made their way through the "window," it liquefied on contact and rippled, indicating that there was no glass there at all, but rather an element similar to water but clear enough to fool intruders that it was impenetrable.

.

Inside the hangar, the ship parked itself beside larger ships, also shaped like birds in flight. All of them were an ivory white, with Aperture Industries' logo on their sides, and their front windows were shaped and colored like eyeball irises of various colors.

As the crew stepped out of the ship and down its steps, they were met by two tall humans. One was Counselor Alyx Vance, donning the same lab coat she wore when she first introduced herself to Rock. The bespectacled gentleman next to her, with grey in his short-cut hair and beard, had a dark grey coat on with orange lining on his sleeves, and a matching orange logo on his coat's heart.

"Counselor Vance! Counselor Freeman," greeted the boy commander with child-like enthusiasm.

"Welcome back, everyone," smiled Alyx pleasantly, as her silent partner shook the hands of each returning team member. She then glanced down at the new face and smiled, "I see we have a newcomer. I take it the mission went well?"

"As well as it could go, I guess," nodded Commander Rock. But then he dropped his smile. "We were attacked by Erasers."

"Hmm," frowned Alyx. "…They didn't try to erase the whole planet, did they?"

"No, I think they were focused on us."

"I see…"

Raz, meanwhile, looked up at the man in glasses and dark grey coat with a smile. "Hi there, I'm Raz… I'm a Psychonaut… And, you are…?"

The man remained silent, much to Raz's disappointment.

Alyx replied, "He's Counselor Gordan Freeman. Don't worry, it takes him a while to warm up to people. Let's all head to our home stations; I'm sure we have a lot to talk about."

"Yes Ma'am," saluted Rock, before escorting Raz to the nearest elevator.

..

..

Beyond the elevators lied a grand, white-walled plaza, where creatures of all shapes and sizes gathered to either head for a spaceship dock, or stop for a meal, or perhaps just converse with each other. It was very similar to an airport's intertwining hallways; there was little room for places to rest other than the occasional small diner in between gates.

Raz and company entered the plaza on the second level of the plaza, where they could look over the balcony and oversee the various characters as they casually passed by:

One was a little star with eyes, a mouth, and small gloved and sneakered limbs like a cartoon character of old. Another was a tall blue-suited gentleman with a pink helmet and visors that hid half of his face. Another was a whole team of anthromorphic animals, led by an orange fox in a grey suit and dark green pants and black leather boots. He had just been pickpocketed by a thin, blue-cloaked raccoon, who made chase as soon as the fox realized he had just been robbed.

Other strange beings included a group led by another blue-outfitted man, only this one had wild, bright red and spiky hair, and one of his party members was an anthromorphic frog. They stopped to say hello to the small white-furred puppy dog with black ears, and sporting a black wool cap and raggedy street clothes.

Rock was just stepping out of the elevator, when he accidentally bumped into a very small creature with a white helmet and long beady eyes. He recognized this little fellow as White Bomber, who was quick to give the Commander a salute.

"At ease, soldier," smiled Rock as White Bomber ran off with happy eyes.

Meanwhile, the other team members went their separate ways. Jim went to grab a bite at ToeJam and Earl's; Mighty went to his other job as a labor worker for Aperture; Jade snuck up behind her snoozing friend Pey'j, a humanoid pig who promised to wait for her when she returned. She woke him up with a firm nudge of her arm, and the two embraced like long-lost family.

"…Who…. are all these people?" asked a puzzled and awestruck Raz.

The blue-suited Commander joined him in looking over the balcony. "They're mostly volunteers," he explained. "They've come from all corners of the galaxy and different dimensions to help in our cause for universal peace… But some of them are stuck here; their homes have been destroyed- either by war, or natural disasters… or by the Erasers."

"Who are these Erasers, exactly?"

"No one really knows where they come from. All we know for sure is that they think we're to blame for so much turmoil in the universe. They blame our portal-jumping technology, claim it's a crime against nature. And they believe that the only way to deal with us is to erase our existence completely… Needless to say, they're our top enemies."

"…So all these people are heroes? Even those little ones?"

"Heh," chuckled Rock, "you of all people should know not to underestimate someone's size. Which reminds me, you and I will have to talk to the High Council soon. They'll need to know that we have a new member on our team."

Raz was still taken by the various characters on the lower level of the plaza, that he had nearly missed that last sentence. "…New member?" he peeped.

"Oh, Raz!" smiled the Commander. "I thought you understood; this wasn't just a rescue mission, this is recruitment offer."

The boy nearly fell back in shock. "Recru…wha?"

"That's right," smiled the taller, robotic boy. "As Commander of the squad's Search and Rescue team, I am formally inviting you to join us."

With eyes bulged and mouth gaped wide, Raz jumped beside himself. "WHA?"

"I should warn you," frowned the Commander solemnly, "this isn't an easy job… Some of us have all but given up our past lives, left our home worlds to fight someone else's wars. There'll come a time when you might question yourself, whether you're doing the right thing or making things worse. You'll visit places you've never dreamed of, people and creatures you never knew existed. There'll be sacrifices, hard decisions, and there'll be danger. Lots… and _lots_… of danger."

There was a small pause between them; Raz gazed back at the various human and humanoid characters of the plaza, some sporting guns and others oversized swords. Some were clearly supernatural- a vampire here, a sorcerer there- and others, like the cartoony star and fairy-winged sprites that fluttered by, were completely out of this world. And to think, he of all people was invited to join them. _He_, a convicted felon! _He_, a once misunderstood child, was asked to be a hero… for the whole universe!

"So," smiled the boyish blue-suited robot. "Are you interested?"

There was little to no hesitation on Raz's end; he smiled from ear to ear. "When do I start?"

…

…

**SAVING GAME **

**.**

**NEXT LEVEL: "Crash Course" **

…

**CREDITS:**

**Mega Man belongs to CAPCOM**

**Alyx Vance, Gordon Freeman, and Aperture Science belong to VALVE**

**Jade, **_**"Beyond Good And Evil,"**_** belongs to UBISOFT**

**Mighty the Armadillo belongs to SEGA**

**Earthworm Jim belongs to SHINY ENTERTAINMENT/ PLAYMATES INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT**

**Raz, **_**"Psychonauts,"**_** belong to MAJESCO**

**Other characters belong to their respectable companies: NINTENDO, ATARI, NAMCO, SEGA, CAPCOM, etc.**


	3. Crash Course

.

The Counselor's headquarters looked no different than a standard principal's office, complete with a long desk, a few chairs, a window, and even a few house plants placed against the walls. The Counselor herself was an olive-skinned woman in her mid-forties, dressed in a white suit and long matching coat, and sitting behind his desk in a tall rotating chair.

Standing before her was a small boy of about eleven years in age, yet the boy was dressed in a light blue suit and black tie and matching black dress shoes. This was no schoolroom; this was a legitimate place of business. And the boy was no ordinary boy, but a fully robotic sentient being by the name of Rock- Commander of the Redemption Squad's Search and Rescue Division.

Counselor Alyx Vance was holding her chin in his folded hands with her elbows pressed on the desk; she looked tired and worn down from time. But there would be no rest for her, now that the squad had a new member to initiate. That was what this meeting was about, of course.

"I've sent the word out to Raz's home world that he's recently been released from that prison dimension," explained the weary-looking counselor. "Unfortunately, we haven't yet caught the person that framed him for violating what they call 'Psychonaut protocol,' so until we crack the case he won't be welcomed back there. I'll arrange for a proper place for him to feel more at home here in the colony. Since you were the one who orchestrated his escape, I'll leave him in your care, Commander."

"Yes Ma'am," nodded Rock.

"Hmph," smirked the tall human. "I figured there'd be no objections."

"Aw, Counselor Vance, I could never leave a child homeless," frowned the robot boy. "I can only imagine what it feels like to not be welcomed on your own planet. Poor guy, he must be really torn up about it."

.

_**R-I-I-I-I-P**_, went the pillow that was flying Raz's way; he had used his telekinesis to rip it in half before it made contact with his face.

What started out as a friendly competition in the sleeping quarters of newly homeless youngsters turned into all-out war. Like the other preteens around him, Raz was put in a long and narrow room full of bunk beds, complete with fluffy feathered pillows and quilts. Some of the youngsters had built forts out of said pillows and quilts and even some mattresses, while a team of pillow-armed marauders made it their intention of toppling those forts. Clearly, it was past their bedtime but boredom took over.

On the side of the marauders, Raz began to put his telekinesis to use, but he soon learned the hard way that some of his opponents were sword-wielders in their home worlds. Among the tougher pillow fighters were a spike-haired brunette with a red bandana and a matching scarf named Randi. Another smaller boy with wild orange hair and a large red hat with a pirate emblem in its center named Zack, and he wasn't alone; he had a yellow monkey companion named Wiki, whose acrobatics gave the duo an edge over the fortress holders.

But fighting on the side of the fort defenders was a white-haired boy with no name to speak of from a world known as Bastion; he fashioned a mace made of a stick and a pillow tied to its end, which he used to bat away at the oncoming pillows. And he wasn't alone; Randi's two female companions, Popoie and Purim, used their defensive magic against Raz's team.

It was only a matter of time before the game turned into chaos; pillows became the first ammunition, but when they were worn out the teams moved up to mattresses, then dresser drawers and lamps… then toy weapons.

.

Meanwhile, Commander Rock and Counselor Vance were found walking down a hallway that would lead them to Raz's new sleeping quarters.

"I know you've only known him for a day, Rock, but what are your thoughts on Raz so far?" asked the counselor in a gentle voice.

"Well, he seems pretty tough for such a little guy. I'm aware that he's 'gifted,' but I haven't really seen his talents yet."

.

Raz was yet to be tagged by any of the opposing pillows and toy swords, using his mind powers to hover in the air as though weightless.

"Hey, that's cheating!" shouted one of his opponents.

"It's called strategy," argued the psychic in a smug tone.

The white-haired boy threw his pillow-mace at him while he was gloating, and for once he was knocked to the ground. He landed safely- well, he landed on Zack's back, but he himself was u harmed.

"Man down!" shouted Randi, who was quick to draw a training sword and charged toward the white-haired boy. The two of them tussled; still in play-mode there was no real animosity, but their strengths were enough to knock whole beds off kilter.

.

"And is he getting along with everyone?"

"Oh, gosh yes! You should see him with the other kids; they really love him!"

.

"Hold still so I can KILL you!" raged Zack the boy pirate, as he charged Raz.

Somewhere in the tussle, Raz went rogue and started to telekinetically throw pillows at everybody. Perhaps he accidentally lost his place in the game, or perhaps he took an earlier hit too personally. Either way, he was soon surrounded by young sword masters, but because he could temporarily fly, he was just out of their reach.

.

"Well," sighed Counselor Vance as she and Rock stopped at the doorway of a certain chamber; "I hate putting him in a bedroom full of complete strangers, but everything's happened so fast that we haven't really planned on giving him his own room to call home."

"I'm sure he's okay," Rock assured her. "He's just grateful to be out of that awful prison."

"I hope you're right," said Alyx as she pressed a button by the door, indicating it to unlock.

As the door slid open, a pillow and its feathers went flying passed the heads of the authority figures. Both Alyx and Rock flinched, swaying their heads left and right respectively to not get hit by the fluffy ammunition.

Seeing the children running amok and screaming like headless chickens put a damper on Rock's spirits quite immediately. Alyx, on the other hand, couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

He had given the rambunctious rascals a few seconds to realize that they were not alone, but seeing as how even the psychic among them was ignoring him and his superior, Rock's patience wore off. "TEN-HUT!" he shouted.

The youngsters were quick to respond by lining up next to each other, most of them covered in feathers. Raz was among the tattered and feathered, spitting out feathers as he saluted his superiors.

"Raz," said Counselor Alyx.

"Yes Ma'am?" peeped the psychic nervously.

"I can arrange a personal living space for you within a few days, if you like."

"I'm okay, Ma'am."

"I've just assigned you to train under Commander Rock and his Search and Rescue Division. Are there any objections?"

"No Ma'am."

"Good." As the woman turned to prepare her departure, she looked down to the blue-suited robot beside her with a coy smile. "He's all yours, Commander… Good luck."

As the counselor marched off, Rock paused to exchange an awkward stare at the messy and obviously restless Raz. As a free-falling pillow feather landed on his head the youthful robot sighed, almost in dread.

Raz made a nervous grin; the feeling of dread was mutual.

..

..

**THE REDEMPTION SQUAD**

**Snodin**

**.**

**Level 2:**

**CRASH COURSE**

**.**

.

On that same afternoon, Commander Rock- still dressed in a blue suit and black tie instead of his more iconic blue armor- walked his new agent Raz around the heart of what appeared to be a small city bubbled by super-thick glass, with deep space peering from the other side. The city was a cluster of hotels and house chains, with narrow roads and walkways. At its center was a massive park, The Gardens as it was called, home to woodland critters both feral and civilized.

The Commander explained, "This is Colony B; this is home to many creatures from all kinds of worlds who've lost their homes to the Erasers, or other evil forces. Colony A is similar, except it's home to the humans who helped built this place. Most people who come here tend to stay, since they have nowhere else to go. But others, like you and me, come and go as we please. Well in your case, you'll stay here until it's safe for you to go back home."

"How many worlds have you seen so far?"

"Me, personally? Let's see…" After doing the math in his mind, Rock declared, "twenty-three, so far. But there are countless worlds out there, I doubt we as a squad have seen them all."

"Wow…"

"Our hope is that one day we'll find a safe home for all of these poor souls who lost their worlds, but that won't be possible with monsters like The Combine and Erasers running around."

"…Combine?" paused Raz. "What's The Combine?"

"An inter-dimensional race," frowned Rock. "Basically, they can warp in and out of worlds like us, but instead of helping worlds they're out to conquer them."

"And the Erasers?"

"They're a bit more mysterious; what we know so far is that they oppose any and all dimensional travel- they think we're somehow destroying the fabric of time and space. But that theory hasn't been proven… at least, not yet."\\\

The conversation sort of stopped there, as the two of them traveled into a far more tranquil section of the colony: The Gardens.

.

As they walked through The Gardens, which looked more like a temperate forest in the middle of a walled-in metropolis, Raz almost lost himself in the peaceful greenery. He could tell that this area was made for those traumatized animal-like creatures who craved native fauna, and could spot one or two anthromorphic animals frolicking through the trees and brush as they passed by.

"So, how does it work around here?" asked a curious Raz. "Are you like, Commander of the whole squad or something?"

"Oh no," replied Rock. "There are five main Divisions- I'm the leader of Search and Rescue only."

"What're the others?"

"Our Divisions ranked by the level of danger: First, there's the Diplomatic Division; they're made up of world leaders, and they basically keep the peace through politics. Then there's the Scout Division, which is how we were able to find you; then there's mine, which does your standard rescue missions. Then there're the Hunters, who track down and arrest dangerous criminals… And finally we have the War Division, which as you can imagine, is our last resort to conflict."

"Okay," nodded Raz, "so you're the leader of your own team… But you only have the three members?"

"Not really," shook the Commander's head. "My friends and I only need a few members for each mission; we only call for backup when it's absolutely necessary. Each member plays a crucial part though: we have at least one gunner- that's Jim, one strongman- Mighty, and one healer- that's Jade. I usually fill in for other members, because I'd rather not endanger any lives."

"What about me? Where do I fit in?"

"We'll need to train you first, for all sorts of situations. You'll be put through both physical and mental tests, and if all goes well, you'll likely wind up as part of my crew, as a wildcard. Though, if I were you, I'd gun for the Scout or Diplomatic Division."

The young Psychonaut frowned in disappointment, "Why? What's wrong with all the other jobs?"

"It's simple, kid," came a feminine voice up ahead. Sitting on a park bench with her piggigh companion Pey'j, right on cue, was the mysteriously green-eyed and lipped Jade. "The Commander hates violence- downright loathes it."

"Not that I blame 'im," added the portly pig with his sleepy eyes half open and his arms crossed. "Sendin' a kid out to war's not somethin' I'd want on my conscience either."

Rock smiled warmly as he greeted them with a nod. "Jade, Pey'j."

"You guys weren't following us, were you?" asked a suspicious Raz.

"_She_ was," the pig ratted while giving his niece a friendly elbow; "I'm just here for the fresh air."

Jade winced her bright green eyes at him before confessing, "We were_ both_ on our way to the food court when we saw you two. How're you doing, Raz?"

The smaller, goggle-headed boy shrugged, "Eh. It's better than floating in a bubble for all eternity."

"Still no sign of the guy who framed him," Rock frowned. "But the Police Division is on it. As soon as I get word from Commander McCloud, I'll…"

He was stopped by a sudden buzz in his ear, which activated his Blue Bomber armor instantly. Raz was stunned to see his new boss 's body suddenly shift with bright blue flashing sprites into his battle mode.

Mega Man pressed the red button on his right earphone. "Yes, Counselor Va- Oh! Counselor Freeman, this is a surpri- ….Yes? …Yes, sir…"

"Wait," mused Raz to himself. "That guy actually talks?" He was, of course, referring to Freeman, who as far as he knew couldn't say a word.

Rock's eyes stilled as his superior's orders reached his ears. "…I understand… I'm on it, sir." As his friends waited patiently, Mega Man took his finger out of his earphone and addressed them: "Jade, we've got a call. Round up as many volunteers as you can, 'cause this is a big one."

"Yes, sir!" saluted Jade, who stood straight up from her bench seat in compliance.

"Aww," frowned Pey'j. "Still no time for lunch?"

The woman turned to her companion with a smile. "Just go on without me, uncle. You know how I like my burgers." She then leaned over to give him a quick peck on the cheek before running off in a hurry.

A surprised Raz turned to his Commander. "Uncle?"

Mega Man just replied, "Long story."

As the Blue Bomber started to take off in a rush, he was followed close behind by his newest agent. This caused the robot boy to stop in his tracks to face the young Psychonaut with a disapproving grimace. "You're not coming, Raz."

"What?" gasped the boy. "But I'm part of the squad now! Aren't I?"

"Not yet," shook the robot's head. "You still have a lot of training to do; it's not safe. Just stick with Pey'j; he'll give you the rest of the tour."

"But, I-"

"No buts, Raz! Stay behind, that's an order."

Reluctantly, the young Psychonaut watched as the commander continued his hurried steps toward the closest available recruits for the mission, whatever it may be.

..

Raz was many things- brave, intelligent, good-hearted… but there was one thing he wasn't: obedient.

Having given Pey'j the runaround in the park, as soon as the pig lost sight of him the boy went running off in Mega Man's direction. This would lead him back to the docking base of the squad's bird-shaped space crafts.

Hiding behind a small eyeball-shaped space pod, Raz saw the new lineup of Search and Rescue crew members: Captain Falcon, known for his expert driving skills as well as his deadly punches; Chrono, the spiky read-headed swordsman of legend, whose own adventures through space and time were well known by the squad;"Gunstars" Red and Blue, who came equipped with self-upgradeable firearms; Sparkster the Opossum, better known as Rocket Knight, who donned both a jet pack and a blue suit of armor topped with a sword of gold. And of course, rounding up the team were Jade, Earthworm Jim, and Mighty the Armadillo.

The crew lined up in salute, as their commander marched up and down the line to brief them of their mission. Raz paid little attention to what he was saying; his eyes and thoughts were on the giant circular machine standing in the middle of the room. It had a silver arc with sharp edges, and its center was nothing more than a void; it was likely that this was the portal gate through which the team was about to cross.

"Okay everyone, you know the drill?" called out Commander Rock. "Now saddle up; we're taking The Crane."

"Yes, sir!" the crew replied.

As the Commander and his crew boarded their large white ship, Raz scurried over to a collection of much smaller, one-man piloted space crafts. He figured that he was a perfect fit for the perfectly circular one, and crawled in. After briefly looking over the simplistic controls, including just one steering rod, he mused, "Heh, looks easy enough." With the push of a big red button, his cockpit was sealed up in a dark grey glass, appearing to be the iris of his eyeball-like ship.

From his seat in the Crane's cockpit, Mega Man called out, "Set the coordinates, Iris."

"Yes, Commander," replied an eyeball-like droid with a bright orange iris. She floated over to a control panel beside the portal gate, and with extended wire-thin fingers she tapped away at a set of buttons.

The portal gat's black middle began to glow a warm pinkish hue, indicating that a warp vortex was being formed. This was the crew' cue to activate the Crane's engines. The ship's hind legs, facing downward, were lit aflame, and it began to hover in mid-air.

As the much larger plane began to hover toward the pink warp vortex, Raz quickly switched on the small engine of his round spacecraft. He wiggled the steering rod around, causing the eye to bounce off the walls and other vehicles like a pinball, before he finally got the knack of the controls. And just in time too, as the Crane's backend was now the only visible part of it that hadn't yet crossed through the vortex.

Hastily Raz's small ship zigged and zagged toward the vortex before it closed up, and before he knew it he was careening through a beam of pink light. Having put his goggles over his eyes, he wasn't blinded by the strange light; however, he was feeling quite shaky and uneasy, not being used to such a drastic speed through time and space.

For a few seconds, his small eyeball craft was tailing behind the Crane beautifully, but what Raz didn't take into account was the fact that it didn't have enough fuel in its tank to make a whole trip. Feeling a sudden drop in gravity, he realized his error in jedgement and began to dread the worst. "Oh no… Oooh, no…."

Oh, yes. His space craft began to freefall, well out of reach of the Crane, into unknown territory, Raz screaming helplessly all the way.

..

..

**The Wumpa Islands.**

On a remote, yellow-sanded beach of the main island, a short and scrawny man with a massive, geometric head, dressed in nothing more than a pair of black swim shorts, was laid out on as lounge chair, shadowed by a large red umbrella under the blazing summer sun. The man's skin was a sickly yellow, his head almost completely bald except for the black sideburns that protruded outward like spikes. On his forehead, along with a small tuft of hair, was a large dark letter "N", a symbol of his name and heritage. On his small chin, a handsome, three-pointed goatee- a true symbol of his inherit evil, as truly the most evilest of men wore goatees.

This was Doctor Neo Cortex- well, sort of. Having been the arch-nemesis of the islands' top protector, Crash Bandicoot, one would think he'd be in some secret laboratory, plotting his latest scheme of world domination. But instead, he was here- lounging on the beach with swim shorts and sunglasses over his tired, saggy eyes. And as he drifted off to sleep, he never looked so peaceful, or so happy…

Suddenly, a bright light beamed down on him- was it the sun? He was sure his umbrella was big enough to block it. "Ugh," he groaned. "N. Gin? Quit stealing my umbrella, I'm trying not to get sunburned."

"**It's not the sun that'll burn you, you incompetent fool."**

He knew that deep, dooming voice! Cortex's eyes peeked from their shades, and sure enough they were staring into the soulless eyes of a floating Tiki head. He yelped in high-pitched terror.

"**Cortex!"** boomed the evil island spirit known as Uka Uka. **"I've been hovering all over these islands looking for you, and**_** this**_** is how you spend your afternoons? Sunbathing? Relaxing on the beach?"**

"Not really," peeped a wrenched voice nearby. The floating wooden head turned to see Cortex's Igor-like henchman, N. Gin, in his own full-body swimwear of blue and white stripes. With a tooth-gaped smile, the metal-faced, lavender-skinned lackey mentioned, "We also brought hot dogs." As he declared this, he was standing over a barbecue grill, with hot dog meats sizzling over a fire.

"**IDIOTS!"** howled the floating head, whose empty eye sockets now spouted fire. **"When are you going to take your jobs as evil minions seriously? I was put on this miserable planet to control it, to prove myself as a feared entity; not waste my days getting suntanned and eating hot dogs!"**

"But they're so juicy," frowned N. Gin.

"**Quiet you!"** The floating Tiki head thrust itself forward to the big-headed mad scientist so that their eyes could press up against each other. **"I am giving you until the end of the day to come up with some kind of world domination scheme, or I'm throwing you and your slightly dumber lackey into the volcano!"**

"Hmph," was Cortex's small response.

"**The active one!"**

"Aaugh!" screamed Cortex in genuine fear.

"**That's more like it,"** growled the floating Tiki head, before it vanished into thin air.

At first, the little man was shaken with his jaw dropped in terror, but moments later he was back to being the old cool and collective mad doctor. Only now, his mood was dampened in regret.

"Oh, why? Why, N. Gin? _Why_ are we cursed with such a horrible evil spirit for an employer?"

"That's technically your fault, Master; you were the one who freed him from his prison."

"I'm tired of wasting all of my energy on that demonic spirit, Uka Uka!" lamented Cortex. "I miss the old days, when it was just me against that insufferable bandicoot and his friends."

"Again, that was your fault. You_ made_ Crash with your mutation experiments, Master."

Ignoring him, Cortex continued his pitiful rant. "I was the great Doctor Neo Cortex! I was the scourge of the Wumpa Islands._ I_ should be the one plotting world domination with my _own_ army of willing subjects. And I should be able to do it _when_ I want, and _how_ I want! Being evil twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week is just…. ugh, it's so taxing."

"We don't pay taxes, Master."

"N. Gin?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Run face first into the umbrella pole."

"Yes, Master."

…_CLANG!_

"Thank you, Master! I needed that," cheered the obviously pained N. Gin.

"Yes, indeed." Cortex then managed to break the fourth wall by reaching high into the sky and pulled down a red curtain in front of him. Seconds later, the curtain pulled up, and he was no longer in swim trunks but instead his signature white lab coat and black rubber boots and gloves.

Now fully dressed, the mad doctor began to stroke his devilish goatee as the wheels in his swollen head began to turn. "Hmm… If only I had enough Power Crystals; I could use them to seal Uka Uka away in his mountain prison once again, and then I would be my own lackey- I mean master! But getting said Crystals takes a lot of time, and a lot of manpower…"

"And a go-kart."

"And a go-ka… wait, what?"

N. Gin unzipped his full-body swimsuit to reveal his own lab coat and boots underneath- it's better not to ask how. He then reached into a pocket in his white coat and pulled out a rolled up scroll he unraveled it to reveal a poster ad for, "The Von Clutch Motorworld racing circuit!" he read. "Heh! There's a big kart race happening today, and the grand prize is one hundred Power Crystals!"

"One… hundred… Crystals?" The lights went on for Doctor Cortex, as his eyes turned like a slot machine's wheels from irises to crystals. "That's it, N. Gin! All I have to do is enter that race and win those Crystals, and then we'll finally be rid of that horrible Uka Uka once and for all! _Heee_!"

"There's just one problem, Master."

"Nothing you say will deter my hopes, N. Gin."

"Crash is entering the race."

"…except that."

As they began to hatch their nefarious scheme, they failed to notice the small falling object in the sky that resembled a shooting star… Well actually, if one were to look more closely at it, it looked more like a falling eyeball.

..

..

**Von Clutch Motorworld, ten minutes later**

It was a beautiful afternoon on the mainland; nary a cloud in the sky- the perfect day for a kart race. After months of preparations (not to mention a complete overhaul of the park since its last adventure regarding a rogue mascot), Von Clutch Motorworld looked as menacing as ever. Already, the stadium seats were packed with various animals and aborigines cheering and waving colored flags of their favorite racers. Lined up at the starting gate as part of the park's tropical themed "Mystery Island," were five color-coded go-karts, three of which were mounted by orange cartoon-like bandicoots.

From a podium atop the main stadium sat a cassowary with a Mohawk-shaped crest, dressed in a blue suit and black tie. Beside him was a floating Tiki head; one not as bulky or feathered as Uka Uka, but rather modestly thin and sporting a few rainbow-colored feathers on his brow.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," clucked the cassowary, "and welcome to our annual Von Clutch Motorworld Raceway Extravaganza! I'm your host, Cass O. Wary, and with me today is a very special guest commentator. You know him as the benevolent guardian spirit of Wumpa Islands: the one and only Aku Aku."

"**Greetings, friends,"** smiled the Tiki spirit in a deep voice peppered in a tropical accent. **"It's so nice to be a part of this event, now that Von Clutch made a full recovery after losing his power crystal."**

"Yep, that ol' cyborg may be a little rusty, but he's got enough tight bolts to make this his most elaborate and possibly historic race yet."

.

From the stadium, the announcer voices echoed like thunder to the crowds.

"_For this race, we are combining the main elements of our four main parks- Mystery Island, Happily Ever Faster, Tyrannosaurus Wrecks, and finally, Astroland- into one long and heavy-hitting raceway!"_

"_**Each racer will start out with a fairly modest vehicle, but we've scattered special upgrades along the roads in unmarked crates; whoever crosses over them will make their vehicles faster, or bigger, or you might even get a bad item. Who knows?"**_

"_We don't even know, 'cause we already forgot what we put in 'em! Now, let's meet the racers!"_

The crowd went wild as the five racers lined up at the starting line in color-coded go-karts.

"_In the grey kart, the powerhouse of the Bandicoots: Crunch!"_

Standing at just over six feet tall, the brown-furred bandicoot with a metallic right arm was the largest of the racers, and yet his go-kart was about the same size as the others. His strategy was to get the upgrades to make his vehicle much larger- not just for an advantage in the race, but perhaps to make it more comfortable to sit in.

"_**In the pink cart, the brainiest of bandicoots: Coco!"**_

The blonde-haired kid genius of her family, Coco gave the crowd an enthusiastic wave.

"_In the green kart, the prettiest pluckiest of possums: Pasadena!"_

Dressed in a dark blue pilot suit, the female opossum saluted her fans while maintaining a calm composure.

"_**In the red cart, his mechanical majesty himself: Von Clutch!"**_

The smallest of the racers, Von Clutch was a green-skinned humanoid whose body was almost completely clockwork. Normally dressed in a dark suit, his middle was now triple-strapped in belts to keep his inner power core from popping out from his chest.

"_And in the blue kart, the hero of Wumpa Islands himself, give it up for Crash Bandicoot!"_

The medium-sized, scrawny-limbed and big-mouthed hero shook his clasped hands in the air with great confidence, making the crowd cheer loudest for him. Unlike the others, he had no plans of upgrading or even winning; he was just here to have fun.

"_**Alright racers, on your marks… Get set…" **_Aku Aku's voice began, when suddenly his co-announcer's voice clucked in.

"_WAIT! Hold your horses, racers! It looks like we have a last-minute competitor!"_

Screeching in on an old-looking and smoke-exhaling four-wheeler was the scourge of Wumpa Islands himself, Dr. Neo Cortex. Dressed in his usual lab coat and dark rubber gloves, he gave his fellow competitors a spiteful grin. His four-wheeler nearly bumped into Crash's as it took its place by his left side.

A less than cheerful Aku Aku's voice echoed, _**"Um… okay? I'm being told by the officials that this new racer is indeed eligible. Our final contestant, in the black kart, is Doctor Neo Cortex!"**_

"Cortex?" gasped Coco in disbelief. "Who invited him?"

"Oh don't be so melancholy, my feisty furballs," said the smug mad scientist. "I'm just here to have a bit of fun, like the rest of you. You like friendly competition, don't you Crash?"

The scrawny bandicoot blew a raspberry in reply, indicating his disgust.

Cortex sneered. "My sentiments, exactly."

"_Okay, is that everybody now? Yes? No? …Good! The race will now begin: On your marks… Get set… GO!"_

All of the karts burned rubber as they tore across the starting line; most left a trail of white smoke, while Cortex's left a distinctive trail of black smog.

.

**Mystery Island**

The first leg of the race, Mystery Island, had a tropical theme complete with rivers, log bridges, pirate carvings, a fake whale spouting water, and of course lush island greens. Since this was the first of four arenas, the road was rather simplistic with wide turns and small hills. That, and the fact that there were little to know power-up crates on the road made this track the one where the racers could go all out and just plow through with no holds barred.

Cortex, the most aggressive racer of them all, only had a small Gatling gun on his vehicle which had poor aiming. His ping pong ball-sized bullets did little damage to his opponents, but it did cause a distraction for Von Clutch and Coco. As the mad scientist and cyborg tore down the lane, they saw a single crate sitting in the middle of the road. Their karts collided and pushed each other back and forth as they vied for the crate. Ultimately, it was Von Clutch who got the wheel power-up; his kart magically morphed into a giant monster truck which flattened Cortex's black four-wheeler temporarily.

But Von Clutch only gained a little bit of the lead; Crash Bandicoot was not far behind, having played a skillful game with no damage to his go-kart thanks to careful driving. Suddenly, a white ball appeared just a mile ahead. Believing this to be a power-up item, Crash veered his kart around Von Clutch's and went full throttle toward the ball. The blue kart slammed into it, causing a **"Thunk"** sound. The ball ricocheted and bounced onto the back of Crash's go-kart.

Curiously, the bandicoot turned his head to see what he had obtained, and to his shock, the ball's dark visor slid open, revealing a small orange-skinned boy inside.

"AAAHHHH!" screamed Raz.

"AAAHHHH! FISH FACE!" echoed Crash.

In his state of surprise, Crash pulled down on his steering wheel's left and careened into the lane's barrier. This caused the blue vehicle to spin frantically, giving Von Clutch an easy lead.

"_Oh, look!" cheered the voice of Cass O. Wary. "It looks like Crash got one of our Assistance Upgrades!"_

.

"**Wait a minute,"** argued Aku Aku. **"I don't recognize **_**that **_**assistant at all."**

"Eh, must be a freebie," shrugged his co-announcer.

.

After momentarily losing his cool, Crash regained his composure and righted his kart to continue the race, but by now his siblings and even his arch nemesis had run past him. He slammed his foot on the gas pedal, causing Raz to hold on for dear life, and his escape pod.

Just then, Cass' voice called out, _"Remember, racers: your opponents can knock out your upgrades with their own weapons- that counts as a free hit, as your kart won't take damage."_

"Augh!" cried a fearful Raz. He pleaded to the furry creature behind the wheel, "Please! Whatever happens, don't let them knock me out! I'll help you, I promise, just don't throw me out of this car! Okay?"

With his tongue blowing in the wind, the dim-witted but big-hearted Crash gave his new copilot a smile and a thumbs up in compliance.

"Great," sighed Raz in relief. He then took a moment to carefully survey his new surroundings: "Okay… So, we're in a race. Wasn't expecting that- then again, I'm not sure_ what_ I was expecting… Did you happen to see a blue robot that kind of looks like a kid with big doll eyes?"

Crash shook his head, which gave off the sound of a dog shaking water off its soaked fur.

"Okay, so I must have landed somewhere else. Um… Who're we racing against?"

Crash pointed across the lane to his opponent, of whom Raz gave a quick observation: "Let's see… Lab coat, wild hair, goatee. He's the bad guy, am I right?"

Crash nodded his head, which gave off the sound of shaking maracas.

"Okay, got it. So we just outrun him, and the day is saved?"

"Pancakes!"

"I'll take that as a yes."

.

Meanwhile, near the end of the arena, a large pirate ship was propped as a backdrop. Its cannons were there for show, but Cortex's henchman N. Gin had already begun to set them up to become a new obstacle for the race. As soon as the karts came tearing around the sharp corner, he let out a maniacal cackle and pressed a button on a small control switch.

.

"**BOOM!"** The cannons fired, and out came non-lethal but very large cannonballs. All but Cortex were caught by surprise; he stayed focused as his opponents frantically swerved their vehicles left and right to escape getting flattened. But N. Gin himself stayed out in the open on the ship's edge, laughing at the sight of the fearful bandicoots.

"Hey!" hollered Coco as her eyes caught sight of the purple-skinned lackey. "Cortex's friends are rigging the race!"

Nearby, her older brother Crunch turned a stink eye up at N. Gin. "We'll worry about that later," he advised. "Right now, let's just focus on outrunning Cortex." Seconds later, he was faced with a boulder-sized cannonball, which he promptly punched with his metal fist, knocking it out of the lane.

The racers managed to escape the cannonballs as they came toward them, but now that they were running down a slope, those same boulders started to chase after them. Only by hitting a spring at the end of the slope could they make it toward the next arena; poor Pasadena Possum was knocked to the side by Cortex, who cared only for his own safety. Pasadena's green kart went barreling into a lake full of fake sharks.

"_Uh-oh,"_ joked Cass O. Wary's voice, _"looks like Pasadena Possum is sleeping with the fishes tonight."_

.

**Happily Ever Faster**

The second leg of the race was a revamped version of an old favorite track: a fairy tale-inspired arena complete with a castle where Rapunzel's blonde braided hair dangled down from atop the tallest tower as part of one of the road's obstacles. Other props included beanstalk ramps, a patch of forest with gingerbread houses, and a sleeping fire-breathing dragon, whose spine became part of the road itself.

Leading the pack was Von Clutch, followed by Crunch, then Cortex, then Coco and finally Crash. Now that the track was getting bigger and with more slopes and turns, the racers became more aggressive. Coco received a speed upgrade, pushing herself past her brother Crunch. But then Cortex received a weapon upgrade, turning his small Gatling gun into a heat-seeking missile launcher. With it, he blasted his way into second place, just behind Von Clutch. He only managed to damage the cyborg's monster truck, knocking it back down into a small go-kart, but he still maintained the lead.

"Woo-hoo!" cheered the voice of Raz, catching Cortex by surprise. To the mad doctor's horror, his rival was now picking up speed and headed his way.

Cortex turned his missile launcher around and gloated, "I hope you like my missiles Crash, because they can't seem to get enough of you! Hee-hee-hee-hee!"

Three missiles came spiraling toward the bandicoot in the blue kart, who was quick to reach out and grab the dangling blonde braid of Rapunzel's hair. This triggered a secret path; he and his kart were pulled upward and tossed onto a second track made of a giant false beanstalk. This track, higher and loopier than then main one, would launch him well ahead of his opponents. However, the heat-seeking missiles were still on his tail.

"I've got this," smiled Raz. "Keep driving!" As his partner went full throttle, Raz reached out with one hand and pressed against his temple with the other. Using his telekinesis, he redirected the missiles into each other, and they burst upon collision.

Crash and Raz ran along the beanstalk until it launched them into the third part of the track, which was the dragon's spine. By now, they were in second place and well ahead of Cortex, much to his dismay. However, he had another trick up his sleeve…

.

The head of the dragon was designed to detach from its mechanical neck and chase after the drivers, but it was never meant to harm them. However, another one of Cortex's minions managed to sneak onto the track and rig the dragon's head just before the race began. As the racers leapt from the dragon's snout, it detached and began to run after hem on three wheels on each side. But as it opened its mouth, a strange figure appeared inside: it was Dingodile, a half-dingo, half-crocodile mutant, armed with a flamethrower and a tank of gasoline strapped to his back.

"Fire in the hole! Hahahahahahahaha!" laughed the pyromaniac hybrid. As he did, his flamethrower spewed a torrent of fire, almost making it seem like the dragon itself was spewing the flames.

"_Oh no, friends! Looks like the competition is really heating up!"_

"_**Aw, don't crack jokes now. Someone can get really hurt!"**_

Not one to simply lag behind, Dingodile had his own control pad and used it to steer the dragon's head closer and closer to the racers. He pushed Crash aside and nearly barreled over Crunch, but it was Coco who would get the better of him.

While the pyromaniac was blindly throwing fire her way, Coco was focused on the road ahead, and steered into a power-up crate. This unleashed her companion Polar, the baby polar bear. He jumped to the back of her kart and exhaled a breath of ice and snow. Despite his grandest flames, Dingodile was no match for Polar's icy breath; both he and his dragon head mech froze in place.

"_Looks like we need a new dragon,"_ joked Cass O. Wary, _"'cause this one just got fired!"_

"…_**You're gonna make bad puns all day, aren't you?" **_feared Aku Aku.

"_Well of course! Bad puns are in my name… No, really!"_

.

**Tyrannosaurus Wrecks**

The third leg of the race consisted of a fiery, prehistoric theme, with a volcano spouting fake lava, rocky formations used as ramps, and mechanized dinosaurs as part of the scenery. But of course there were some hazards on the road: giant Venus flytraps that could swallow a go-kart whole; slick black puddles meant to resemble tar pits, and one mean Tyrannosaurus Rex machine designed to chase the karts down. After plowing down the gravely road, dodging the Venus flytraps as they swooped their jaws at the competitors, they were soon tailed by the giant robotic lizard, eyes glowing red and jaws clattering.

"_Careful, racers!"_ warned the avian announcer. _"Anyone who lags behind will get the business end of our T-Rex!"_

And he wasn't kidding; the mechanized beast roared as he dipped down to try and snatch up Coco, who was momentarily in last place. It was Polar who came to her aid, whose ice breath left a trail of ice on the road. The Mecha-Rex slipped on the ice and slowed down, giving Coco more than enough speed to escape its snapping jaws.

.

"I would say that dino ex-stinked! Hee-heeheehee!" laughed Cass O. Wary, but his co-announcer replied with a grim frown. "….Aw come on, that was a good one."

"**Maybe… if you're deaf."**

.

"Is it just me," asked Crunch to his brother Crash nearby, "or is this race becoming more like a giant death trap?"

Coco sped up to meet with them and replied, "It seems like Cortex and his buddies get here long before we did. Keep your eyes out for N. Tropy, or Tiny, or any of those goons."

Charging down the rocky and spiral track, the team's karts were shuttled closely together, making each other bounce back and forth like bumper cars. Things only got worse when oil slicks on the road caused the karts to go faster than their riders intended. But such momentum became a blessing, when the road they were on suddenly gave way to a loop-de-loop.

At the end of the loop were two crates sitting carelessly on the road. Both Crunch and Coco were convinced that they were power-up crates, and each one collided with one. But Cortex had secretly replaced the original crates with these new ones, and he even slowed his kart down to make sure he wouldn't be the one to activate them.

Crunch the bandicoot got the shock of his life when, upon releasing the crate, he was not greeted by a power-up for his kart but instead an old rival: Tiny the Tasmanian Tiger! The muscular brute snarled at the brown bandicoot and clawed at the wheel, sending the two of them on a wild spin off course and into a fake lava pit.

Likewise, Coco was greeted by a rigged crate as well, only her new companion was a wild-eyed, drooling, straightjacket wearing blue kangaroo.

"Ripper Roo!" she confirmed in a fright.

Ripper laughed as he swatted little Polar off the back of the kart and took his place. He then tried to use his clawed feet to kick her wheel out of her grip, but despite her moment of surprise, Coco regained her composure. "Oh no you don't," she declared.

Veering her kart hard left to hard right, she couldn't shake him despite his obvious lack of balance. Then another idea came to her mind, as she saw that she was headed straight for a patch of voracious Venus flytraps on the side of the road. She purposely steered her pink kart to the very edge of the track, and while Ripper tried to bite the back of her head, he failed to notice that he too was being snapped at, until it was too late. In a violent "CHOMP," the wily 'roo was trapped in the jaws of a flytrap, freeing Coco.

Meanwhile, Cortex went full steam and zipped past the unlucky bandicoots, catching up with race leader Von Clutch. Their karts slammed into each other, causing friction, until another oil slick spun them out of control.

Von Clutch burned rubber and plowed through the slick, and in his haste he failed to realize that he was now driving in the wrong direction. It wasn't until he passed by Crash and Raz, who waved to him sullenly, when he realized his mistake. But just as he was about to turn around, the T-Rex mech that was chasing the racers this whole time met with him and stomped the cyborg and his green kart flat into the ground.

"_Ouch!"_ the feathered announcer lamented.

"_**I know he's mostly machine,"**_ frowned Aku Aku, _**"but that HAD to hurt."**_

"_At least he's still got his power crystal."_

As if on cue, Von Clutch's dark power crystal "pooped" out from his chest and shattered to pieces.

"_Nevermind."_

.

**Astroland**

The final leg of the race was the aptly-named Astroland, a futuristic arena with a giant rocket ship as its centerpiece.

"_Welcome to the future,"_ the main announcer said with glee. _"And unless you're in first place, you'll soon be history!"_

"_**Seriously man, stop it," **_warned his partner.

"_This is the final lap of the race! Who will win? Who will go crying home to mama? Let's watch and find out!"_

While this track had its share of tricks, turns and loop-de-loops, all Cortex could focus on was the road ahead, on which his remaining minions- N. Gin, his neice Nina, and the Komodo Brothers- lined up a row of power-up item boxes for him to plow through. They made a mad dash off the road before the mad doctor's smog-spewing go-kart came barreling by. In a flash and a puff of black smoke, Cortex's once feeble little four-wheeler became a monster truck-sized death machine, complete with heat-seeking missiles, a giant fist-shaped battery ram on a crossbow on the front bumper, and a huge chainsaw attached to a crane on the back of the machine.

"No more tricks this time, Crash!" grinned a sly Cortex to the puny blue go-kart trailing his. "No traps, no goons. Just you and me and my MASSIVE GO-KART OF DEATH! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It was now or never for Crash and his orange-skinned passenger; they were either going to win this race, or get pulverized trying. "Crash!" said Raz frantically. "You focus on driving, I'll take care of this guy's gadgets."

Nodding his head, Crash Bandicoot burned rubber, making a sharp right to avoid the death kart's various weapons which only worked while their pilot had a clear target. The blue go-kart had just barely scraped by without incident, while the chainsaw crane dipped down in an attempt to skewer it.

With Crash's kart just barely in the lead now, Raz faced the death kart head on, his gloved hands balled in blue glowing fists. "Okay, tough guy. You wanna play hard ball? I'm game."

Accepting the challenge, the mad doctor launched his first weapon at him: a rocket-sized missile. Raz caught it with his telekinesis- Level 1, which was blue-shaded. He struggled with the missile as it hung in the air just inches away from his head, but in seconds he managed to force it around and shoot back at Cortex. **BOOM!** The death kart shrunk down a bit and lost its fighter missiles, but it was still much bigger than Crash's kart.

Round two: Cortex's chainsaw crane swooped back and forth to try to knock Razz off balance, but his nimbleness was too much for it, as he hopped like a grasshopper over every swing.

Round three: The Battery Ram. Connected to a large crossbow, Cortex launched it at Raz's head, but he caught it with his Level 2 telekinesis, shaded green. In its green halo, the fist of the battery ram hung in mid-air. This proved to be a slightly bigger struggle for Raz, but with shaking fists he persevered and flipped the fist in reverse, and it punched the death kart. WHAM! The black truck was now flaming at the wheels, but still not fully demoted to go-kart status.

Round four was reminiscent of round two, with Cortex letting loose a hailstorm of bullets. Raz formed a blue bubble shield around himself, and had to hold it steady with his mind, before Cortex's ammo ran out.

Final round: The Chainsaw of Doom. With this as his last weapon, the mad doctor furiously pulled on a stick lever on his vehicle, and the chainsaw crane came flailing at Raz in full force until it tried to plunge itself on top of him from straight above. The Psychonaut tapped into Level 3 of his telekinesis, hot pink-colored. The now flamboyantly colored chainsaw remained hovering in the air while its chained teeth kept on rolling, trying desperately to break loose. Raz was now using all of his strength, grinding his teeth and buckling his knees. Somehow though, he managed to gain control of the giant chainsaw and pulled it backward, onto the front of the black death-kart. SLASH! In a great puff of smoke, the once mighty monster truck was now a feeble four-wheeler again.

All while this was happening, Crash Bandicoot did as he was told and kept his buggy eyes firmly on the road ahead. Unlike his rival, who was too focused on Raz, he swung past and around all of the road's hazards and pulled himself further and further into the lead. And now with Cortex's kart back to it first level, there was at least ten feet of distance between them.

_"This is it, folks! The final lap before the finish, and Crash is at the head of the pack! Heck, can you even call it a pack? It's really just a one-on-one race now!"_

Seeing the checkered finish line's banner on the horizon, Crash's mouth gaped open with a wide smile, but then he closed it leaving only his dragging tongue while he gunned his engines.

In his last ditch effort, Doctor Cortex and his flaming-wheeled go-kart started spinning out of control as he thrust all of his pedals forward. He soon collided with the blue kart's side, and as they rubbed against each other their friction created small sparks.

"I'm not finished yet, Crash Bandicoot!" screamed the hapless doctor. "I've still got one ace up my sleeve!" He was referring to the one small weapon he had left: his own laser gun, which he always kept under his belt. As he aimed the gun at Crash, he seemed to have forgotten all about the little psychic boy that demoted his vehicle.

"You know what, Doc?" smiled Raz. "You really need to put a lid on it!" Having lost all of his psychic energy at this point, Raz's one last hurrah came in the form of the very eyeball-shaped orb he came flying in! He held it up over his head with both arms triumphantly before throwing it onto Cortex's oversized cranium. The hapless mad doctor seemed to be swallowed up by the orb's ajar cockpit, and without his sight to guide it the black go-kart went reeling off course, jumping over a platform that led to a ramp that headed straight for the rocket ship centerpiece.

As he crashed into the ship's thrusters, the flames of his wheels lit the fake spaceship's flammable rope, ala the sticks of dynamite of old. The fire not only sent Cortex and his kart flying, but so did the fake rocket, which was actually a gigantic firework. As it soared into the stratosphere, it blew up into a spray of color.

None of this was witnessed by Crash, who joyfully threw his arms up in victory as his blue kart hurled itself across the finish line. The crowd, of course, went wild.

..

..

Less than thirty minutes later, at the winner's circle, Crash stood proudly on the highest tier, with Von Clutch (recently rebuilt) on the third place tier, and a charred Doctor Cortex on the second place tier.

The two announcers, Cass O. Wary and Aku Aku, rewarded the runners up with small medallions, and the plucky orange bandicoot with a trophy cup big enough for him to swim in.

**"We are pleased as punch," **cheered the jolly Tiki god,** "to announce this year's winner of the Von Klutch Motorworld race to our good friend: Crash Bandicoot!"**

As the hero took his trophy cup, he paused in wonder. His buggy eyes wandered until they found the mysterious boy who aided him in the race. He was standing by with the other racers, including Crash's family. Raz looked proud of himself, yet was humble enough not to take Crash's moment of glory away from him. But then, while he was caught off guard, the cartoony bandicoot grabbed him from behind and hoisted him up with one hand, while still holding the trophy by one of its arms in the other. This was Crash's way of saying that he couldn't have won the race without his new friend. And Raz of course, was all too thrilled to share in their victory.

.

Sulking in the far back were Doctor Cortex's defeated minions, soon joined by their half-cooked leader, who all paused to sneer and boo their victorious rival. But it was Cortex himself who seemed the most disturbed.

"All my hard work and scheming, for nothing!" he whined as his grief soon turned into dread. "Now how am I ever going to get enough Crystals to rid myself of-"

"**CoooorrrrteeeEEEEEXXX!"**

"AIEE!" shrieked Cortex, as he and his lackeys were suddenly under attack by fireballs, spouted from an enraged Uka Uka as he phased into the scene in a blaze of fire.

Crash and his family and friends then paused to watch as their rivals ran in circles, dodging fireballs and each other in a frenzied panic. None of them even seemed concerned for the villainous gang, and perhaps it was just as well.

.

"Man, oh man!" cheered Raz as he was placed back onto the ground. "Wait till my friends back at Pandora hear about this!"

"Pandora, you say? No kidding," said a mysterious male voice from behind.

Suddenly, the boy's feet became detached from the ground, as a large yellow hook hoisted him up from the back of his jacket. He yelled in surprise, squirming and kicking in resistance. "Hey! What the- what's the big idea?"

The hook was in fact the end of a large cane, held by a tall anthromorphic raccoon; the black bandit around is eyes could have passed for fur; his dark blue cap, suit and boots served to blend in with darkness, though in broad daylight he stuck out like a sore thumb.

"So," grinned the raccoon, "you're the one who stole my scout ship. Raz, is it?"

Still dangling helplessly in the air, Raz's jacket turned so that he could face the stranger head on. "And you are?"

The grey and blue raccoon tipped his cap. "Sly Cooper, Scout Division, at your service."

As the stranger said this, a glint of light flashed from his jacket. Raz recognized the emblem of Aperture Industries he wore as a badge. "You're from the Redemption Squad," the boy gasped.

"Yep," nodded Sly, "and you're a runaway. And stealing government property? Shame on you… that's _my_ job."

"Oh," blushed Raz; he realized now that the raccoon was referring to the scout ship he hijacked in order to follow Commander Rock's crew. "Uh, about that! I can explain."

"Later," frowned a more serious looking Sly. "I'm taking you back to HQ, pronto."

"Wait! …C-can't I at least say goodbye to my new friends?"

The raccoon lowered his cane to free the boy. "Make it quick."

With a heavy heart and a long face, Raz turned to his other furry friends. "Sorry you guys, looks like I've gotta get back to my home world."

"Hey," smiled Coco pleasantly, "don't be a stranger kiddo. You can visit us anytime."

Crash and Crunch nodded in agreement, Crash bearing the much tootheir grin.

"You sure you guys will be alright here?" asked a genuinely worried Raz. "We can help make this world a much safer place- I mean, that_ is_ what we do."

"From who? _Them_?" Crash and Coco glanced back at the villains, who were still running scared from the fiery Uka Uka. Coco then turned back to Raz with a knowing smile. "I think we can handle it."

Raz smiled. "Fair enough."

"Come on, kid," said the tall and lanky Sly Cooper. "You've got a lotta 'splaining to do back at HQ."

As the young Psychonaut reluctantly followed the raccoon's lead, he sighed deeply. "...I'll bet wherever Megaman and his buddies are, it can't be half as fun as this world."

While the two of them walked off, the bandicoots waved goodbye, while their rivals still ran in circles in the far off distance.

..

..

Speaking of Commander Rock and his crew...

On a planet far beyond that of Crash Bandicoot's, a fully armored Mega Man and his crew look onward very nervously, as a seemingly endless swarm of UFOs came barreling through the night sky toward them. Surrounded, outnumbered and clearly unprepared, they were in for a very long night.

.

**SAVING GAME**

**.**

**NEXT LEVEL: "Alien Nation"**


End file.
